KILIS, Turkey — Two large Turkish flags, flattened by the rain, cover the blasted-out windows of the 17th-century mosque in Kilis, where a rocket fired by Kurdish militants in Syria slammed into the dome this week, killing two worshipers.

Even as the attack rattled shopkeepers gathered at a nearby tea shop, they voiced widespread support for Turkey’s new offensive against Kurdish militants in Syria.

“It makes Turkey strong,” said Mustafa Ozer, one of the group. “Now the border is much more robust. There is no threat anymore. This was mandatory and this should have been done earlier for the whole border.”

I came down to Kilis, which lies on the border with Syria, to learn more about the military operation and see what people directly affected by the war were saying.