KURDISH self-defence forces in the town of Tal Abyad, Syria, said yesterday that Turkish troops had fired at them across the border.

The People’s Protection Units (YPG) are allied to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is banned in Turkey.

They said that they came under machine-gun fire from the Turkish side of the border on Sunday.

The YPG captured Tal Abyad in June.

Meanwhile, Turkish police raided several houses in the majority-Kurdish south-eastern city of Diyarbakir looking for an alleged Islamic State (Isis) cell on Monday morning.

Two police were killed by an explosive booby-trap as they kicked down a door, while seven suspects were killed and a dozen arrested.

Also in Diyarbakir, bar association president Tahir Elci was charged with “disseminating terrorist propaganda” yesterday.

He had been arrested last week after asserting on TV that the banned PKK was not a terrorist organisation.