Syria says it is banning Turkish civilian flights from its airspace.

A Syrian Foreign Ministry statement said the ban was to take effect at midnight Saturday and comes in response to a Turkish move to ban Syrian flights.

The Syrian announcement comes three days after Turkey intercepted a Syrian passenger plane traveling from Moscow to Damascus and seized military hardware and munitions it says were destined for the embattled government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.  Syria has denied the plane was carrying military cargo.

For its part, Turkey stepped up tank patrols Saturday on its 900-kilometer border with Syria, days after cross-border Syrian artillery fire hit several Turkish villages.  The Ankara government has threatened to retaliate against

Read more: Syria Bans Turkish Airline Overflights.