SANLIURFA, Turkey
A Turkish government press office has denied allegations that a bomb-laden vehicle has crossed the Turkish border from the Syrian town of Kobani.
Turkey’s Directorate General of Press and Information in the southeast province of Sanliurfa said on Saturday that the allegations, which were published on Turkish media outlets, were "groundless."
Militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Kurdish peshmerga fighters are still clashing in Kobani, which is just kilometers from Turkey’s southern border.
The statement added that ISIL militants carried out simultaneous attacks in several spots in Kobani, including the Syrian side of the Mursitpinar crossing in the early morning.
“[Turkish] Security forces at the border are vigilant and have identified the activity which began early in the morning and took all necessary measures,” the statement said.
A hill on the Turkish side of the border used by the media to observe fighting in Kobani was evacuated, the statement added.
Clashes between ISIL and the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party’s armed units in Kobani have intensified since September.
Turkey recently allowed Iraqi peshmerga forces to cross into Kobani through its borders to boost units already present there battling ISIL.
www.aa.com.tr/en
