Summary The incident took place on Sunday near the border town of Yayladagi.
ANKARA (AFP) - A Turkish soldier was killed near the Syrian border in a clash with a group of people who attempted to illegally cross into Turkey, the army said on Monday.
The incident took place on Sunday near the border town of Yayladagi across from the northwestern Latakia region of Syria, the army said in a statement.
Turkish forces at a border post intervened against the group’s attempt to illegally enter Turkey and "our hero comrade fell martyr at the scene," the army said, without elaborating on the circumstances of the incident or the identity of the individuals.
Turkey shares a 911-kilometre (566-mile) border with Syria and is under pressure from its Western allies to stem the flow of Islamic State group jihadists.
Hit by a series of attacks blamed on IS, Turkey has stepped up efforts to tighten security along the border and joined the US-led international coalition against the extremist group last year.
Turkey shelled targets of Kurdish fighters in northern Syria at the weekend, but faced international calls to stop the artillery bombardments.
