Three Turkish soldiers were found shot dead this morning in their sentry post on the border in the Ceylanpınar district of Urfa province. While investigations continue it is claimed that one of the soldiers shot two of his colleagues and then shot himself.

The 3 soldiers were on sentry duty at the Boztepe border military post between the Gökçayır neighbourhood of Ceylanpınar and the village of Tilxenzir in the Serêkaniyê area of Rojava. The bodies of the soldiers were taken to the Ceylanpınar State hospital at around 6 am this morning. One of the dead had a single gunshot wound in the head, while the others had been shot once in the chest. The names of the dead soldiers have been given as Ramazan Yel, Kadir Yıldız and Umut Aslan.

Urfa Governor İzzetin Küçük said an inquiry into how the soldiers had died was continuing. He said: “We are investigating to see if the shots were fired from Syria. When we have clarified the situation we will make an announcement.”

Local sources said one of the soldiers had gone mad and shot two of his colleagues in the chest before shooting himself in the head.