First Turkish Casualty in Syria

As Syrian troops pushed into the restive areas of Deir al-Zour and Homs Thursday in a fresh clampdown on pro-democracy protests, a Turkish driver was killed in the town of al-Rastan near Homs, a dissident region in central Syria.

Syrian citizens who saw that the driver, Mecit Akdogan, was killed informed the Turkish Embassy in Damascus and Turkish officials are expected to travel to al-Rastan Friday to retrieve the body of Akdogan, who was born in 1960 in the southern border province of Antakya.

Akdogan’s killing marked the first Turkish casualty in the bloody crackdown in the neighboring country. Turkish delegation in Syria to pick up the deceased received a hearty welcome from Syrians.

The Federation of the Coordination Committees of the Syrian Revolution, an opposition group, said that army tanks shelled the town of al-Rastan on Thursday.