Rocket strikes Turkish school near Syria, 1 dead

ISTANBUL – Projectiles fired from Syria struck near a school Monday in the southern Turkish city of Kilis, killing one person, according to local authorities.

The office of the governor of Kilis said a rocket had hit a schoolyard, killing a cleaning lady, while two other rockets fell in vacant land. A wounded student, a girl in the seventh grade, was taken to a hospital for treatment, the governor's office said.

The mayor of Kilis, Hasan Kara, told Turkish NTV television it seemed "mortars" had been fired from Syria. The broadcaster, quoting military sources, said the Turkish army responded with fire against targets in Syria.

Earlier, the state-run Anadolu Agency said four people were injured in an explosion on the grounds of a middle school in Kilis. There are four schools in the area, just 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Syria.

The Syrian conflict has spilled over into Turkey many times, with artillery fire landing in Turkish border towns and the Turkish army responding in kind. Kilis lies near Syrian territory controlled by the Islamic State group.

Last week, Turkish tanks and artillery struck Islamic State group positions in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for the suicide bombing that killed 10 German tourists in Istanbul - the country's first major operation against the Islamic extremists in months.

Prime Minister Ahmed Davutoglu said some 200 extremists had been killed in Turkey's offensive against Islamic State militants along the Syria-Turkish border and near a Turkish camp in northern Iraq.