Zeenews Bureau
Istanbul: Turkey's military has deployed armored vehicles and heavy weaponry near the border with Syria after scores of its citizens were injured in cross firing between rebels and government forces.
Reports on Sunday said that the deployment was made in an area where earlier this week Turkish civilians were wounded when stray bullets and shelling crossed the border from the Syrian province of al-Raqqa.
Turkish media said artillery fire had landed close to the Turkish border overnight, causing panic among local residents.
The Turkish army moved three Howitzers and one anti-aircraft weapon to the border, the report said.
Turkey, a member of NATO, has conducted a number of troop deployments in recent months along its 911-km (566-mile) border with Syria, where rebels are fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has been an outspoken critic of Assad's handling the uprising that has killed an estimated 27,000 people since it began as a peaceful protest in March 2011.
With Agency Input
First Published: Sunday, September 23, 2012, 10:58