Authorities seized chemical materials from a three-vehicle convoy that was attempting to cross the border near Reyhanli into Syria on Nov. 2; two of the three drivers managed to flee into Syria but a third was arrested. The confiscated materials, which “could be transformed into weapons,” the Army said, included about a ton of sulphur and eight barrels of another substance. Some reports alleged that al Qaeda forces had seized a chemical arms facility in Homs and needed raw materials. Turkish prosecutors claim that a suspect in the May 11 car bombings in Reyhanli met with the president of Syria prior to the attacks. The government is building a wall between Turkey’s Nusaybin and Syria’s Qamishli districts, both largely Kurdish areas. A report said refugees, including jihadists, in Kilis province now number 78,000, outnumbering the local population of 60,000.
