Turkey sending foreign fighters to Latakia –

(AP) — Syria’s information minister Omran al-Zoubi has lashed out at Turkey, accusing Ankara of sending foreign fighters across the border to fight Syrian government troops in President Bashar Assad’s ancestral homeland in Latakia province.

Omran al-Zoubi says neighboring Turkey is facilitating the entry of “groups of foreigners, armed to their teeth” into Latakia, where fighting is raging between Syrian government forces and rebels trying to oust Assad.

Al-Zoubi spoke to Syrian state TV late on Sunday.

Turkey is a NATO member that once had good ties with Syria. But the two countries had a falling out over Ankara’s support for the Syrian opposition in the 3-year-old conflict.

Hostilities have flared along the border on several occasions and last week, Turkey shot down a Syrian fighter jet, saying it violated its airspace.