One dead, 26 wounded as rockets hit Turkish town near Syrian border

Rockets pounded the Turkish town of Kilis near the Syrian border on April 24, a Reuters witness reported, killing one person and injuring 26, a day after the government promised to protect the area from repeated attacks by Islamic State militants.

Two rockets struck houses in a poor neighbourhood near the town centre in the morning. Sixteen people were injured and Turkish soldiers near the border returned fire into Syria, security sources said.

Later in the day, one person was killed and 10 more injured when two more rockets crashed into a mosque, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

The mosque was 100 metres from the governor's office, where Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan was holding talks at the time.

"I am calling for our citizens to be calm," Akdogan told a news conference in Kilis. "All measures will be taken in this regard. Unfortunately, there is no authority across our border."

Akdogan said measures would be announced after a cabinet meeting on April 25.

Police later used water cannon to disperse residents who were protesting what they said was the government's lack of action over the attacks, Dogan new agency reported.

Some of the residents called on the local governor to resign, while others shouted slogan against the government.

"My son wakes up with nightmares ... We aren't safe here. We are afraid to stay in our houses," Ayse, a 46-year-old woman, told Reuters.

Lying just across the border from an area of Syria controlled by Islamic State, Kilis has been peppered by rocket fire in recent weeks. On April 22, two people were killed in an attack on the town, home to around 110,000 Syrian refugees.

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