Turkey PM vows to protect Kilis
April 24, 2016
As German Chancellor Angela Merkel headed to neighboring Gaziantep on Saturday, a fresh wave of rocket attacks were launched on Kilis, killing three people. The previous day, two people died and four others were injured in a similar incident.
According to the Dogan news agency, the rockets had been fired from territory under control of "Islamic State" (IS) forces in northern Syria. The jihadi militant group is fighting Syrian rebels in the area, including factions backed by Ankara.
Kilis is one of the main regions currently hosting refugees from the Syrian war, with some 130,000 people having fled to the city. According to officials, prior to the breakout of the war five years ago, the region had 90,000 inhabitants. In total, Turkey is hosting around 2.7 million Syrian refugees.
Merkel visit
Accompanied by the EU Council President Donald Tusk, EU Deputy Commissioner Frans Timmermans and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday, Merkel visited the nearly 10,000 Syrian migrants at the Nizip 1 camp in Gaziantep.
ksb/sms (Reuters, AFP, AP)