(ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, JULY 1 - Turkey has strengthened its
military presence along the border with Syria with tanks and
missile batteries, several local media report.
Army units deployed along the border have also been placed in
high alert.
Armored vehicles and military personnel from the 5th Armored
Brigade were on Tuesday moved to the southeastern province of
Kilis. Missile batteries were sent to the Karkemis hills in the
Gaziantep province, a strategic point to look out over Syrian
territory nearby.
The strengthening of the Turkish military presence along the
border was decided after an intensification of clashes between
the Islamic State (ISIS) and Kurdish fighters in recent days.
Several media report that the jihadist fighters have mined
part of Syrian territory between Karkemis and Jarabulus, in the
Aleppo province just over the Turkish border. Several trenches
have been dug, which aim to - among other things - to block the
movement of armored vehicles if the Turkish army does cross the
border. Some trenches have been dug by Turkish soldiers in
Nusaybin, in the Mardin province, located in front of the
Kurdish-Syrian city Qamishli.
The daily Bugun reports that all the units deployed along the
border have been placed in ''maximum alert'' for the next 24
hours, while the interior ministry has called meetings with
governors and police officials of the provinces concerned to
draw up an action plan for any potential popular uprisings in
the case of armed intervention. (ANSAmed).
