Turkey captures Syria border attack suspects

Five suspects, including four Syrians, have been referred to court for arrest for their suspected involvement in a blast at the Cilvegözü border gate in the southern Turkish province of Hatay that killed 14 people last month. Fourteen people, including three Turkish citizens, were killed and at least 28 were injured in a blast at the Turkish-Syrian border gate of Cilvegözü in January. Turkish authorities have been thoroughly investigating the attack and have detained a number of people for their possible links to the incident. However, none were found to be the attackers. Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Güler told press on Monday that police had detained eight people that day, with five of them sent to court for plotting the attack at the border gate. He added that two of the arrestees were the ones who actually staged the attack and others are believed to have aided and abetted the two.
 
While four of the detainees were identified as Syrian, the nationality of the fifth was not yet clear.
 
Güler added that the attackers were linked to the Syrian regime, which has lost control of the country in a violent battle and led over a million of its people to seek refuge in bordering countries, including some 185,000 in Turkey.
 
The Cilvegözü border gate, several kilometers outside the town of Reyhanlı, sits opposite the Syrian gate of Bab al-Hawa, which opposition forces captured last July. Refugees cross back and forth and Turkish trucks also deliver goods into the no-man's land between the two gates, where they are picked up by Syrians.