A Turkish man was killed on
Saturday by a stray bullet fired across the border from Syria into the Turkish
town of Ceylanpinar, security sources said.
Ramazan Zeybel, 45, died in hospital. He
was the fourth Turkish citizen to be killed by stray shells and bullets fired
during clashes in the neighboring Syrian town of Ras al-Ain.
With an ethnic mix of Arabs, Kurds and
others, Ras al-Ain has been a focus of clashes for months, with Kurdish
militias fighting for control against Arab rebel fighters from the al
Qaeda-linked hardline Sunni Islamist al-Nusra Front.
Kurdish militias have sought to consolidate
their grip in northern Syria, exploiting the chaos of the civil war over the
past year by seizing control of districts as President Bashar al-Assad's forces
focused elsewhere.
On another note, Syria's main
opposition bloc urged the release of a Catholic priest who disappeared
while visiting a rebel-held city in the country's northeast.
In a statement Saturday, the
Western-backed Syrian National Coalition has urged any party involved Paolo
Dall'Oglio's disappearance to "immediately come forward and release
him."
Dall'Oglio, an Italian Jesuit
priest, went missing on Monday in the city of Raqqa. He is a critic of the Damascus regime and was
expelled last year from Syria, where he had lived for 30 years.
Raqqa in February became the first
city to have fallen entirely under opposition control. Islamic militants with
links to al-Qaida are at odds there with more moderate rebel groups.
Humanitarian aid for Syria:
A humanitarian aid convoy of 75
vehicles left the Turkish city of Istanbul on Saturday and will attempt to
reach Syria to deliver food, medicines and toys for the children.
The organizers said they are
planning to enter the war-ravaged country through the Cilvegozu border gate,
situated in the south of Turkey, in about five days' time.
A total of 160 activists were
part of the convoy, which was organized by two UK-based NGOs, United Muslims
and Children in Deen.
The name of the convoy is
"Eid to Syria" after the Eid Festival, a religious holiday celebrated
by Muslims to end the holy month of Ramadan.
The group's 75 vehicle convoy
includes 40 ambulances and five fire engines.
Activists said they plan to hand
over the vehicles and their cargo to humanitarian aid organizations once they
reach Syria, but did not provide further details.
REUTERS/AP