Turkey's Diyarbakir Airport shelled by rockets in suspected Kurdish attack
Fierce fighting continues between Kurdish-backed fighters and Turkish forces in northern Syria.
Four rockets were fired at Diyarbakir Airport insouth-eastt Turkey by suspected Kurdish militants, causing airport staff and passenger took shelter inside the airport's terminal building for safety, according to Dogan news agency.
The intended target of the heavy bombardment was a police checkpoint located near the VIP lounge, added the agency. The shelling missed, with rockets landing on wasteland close around midnight (local time) on Saturday, 27 August, said broadcaster NTV.
Diyarbakir governor Huseyin Aksoy said there was no disruption to flights and there were no casualties at the airport which is used by both military and civilian functions.
The airport is known as the unofficial capital of the Turkish Kurds and the location of violent attacks this year, in reprisals for Ankara's offensive against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the country's southeast.
The PKK, which is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region here since 1984.
The rocket attack comes days after Turkey forces launched an offensive in Syria against Kurdish miltants.
Ankara says it fears the void left by Islamic State (Isis) will be filled with Kurdish militant fighters. The Turkish government are concerned that Kurdish forces could gain control of a long stretch of land along the border with Syria.
Turkish military sources stated that one of its soldiers was killed and three others wounded when a tank was hit by a rocket on Saturday, 27 August. There were claims that it was fired on from territory held by the Kurdish YPG.
This was denied by the Syrian rebels, who said there were no Kurdish forces in the area and that Turkish forces had targeted forces allied to the YPG.
With tensions rising, US Secretary of State John Kerry said at a press conference on Friday that the US had supported Kurdish fighters on a "limited basis" and remained in close coordination with Turkey, according to Reuters.
"We are for a united Syria. We do not support an independent Kurd initiative."
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