Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Turkey scrambles jets as fighting on border with Syria escalates

Reuters,Ap
Friday 12 October 2012 16:56 EDT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Turkey scrambled two fighter jets yesterday after a Syrian military helicopter bombed the Syrian border town of Azmarin.

The latest escalation came as Russia said there were "no weapons" aboard a Syrian civilian jet that was forced to land by Turkish authorities on Wednesday, and that the plane was carrying a legal shipment of radar equipment.

"We have no secrets," the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, told reporters. "There were, of course, no weapons on the plane and could not have been any. There was a cargo on the plane that a legal Russian supplier was sending in a legal way to a legal customer."

Meanwhile the shadowy jihadi group Jabhat al-Nusra, believed to be linked to al-Qa'ida, fought alongside Syrian rebels who seized a missile defence base near Aleppo, activists said. The admission heightened fears that extremist groups are taking advantage of the chaos to acquire advanced weapons.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in