Karin Laub
AP, AFP October 07, 2012 10:50AM
A Syrian rebel runs across a heavily damaged street to dodge sniper fire during clashes with government forces in the Saif al-Dawla district of the northern city of Aleppo. Picture: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP Source: AFP
NEARLY 50 soldiers and rebels have been killed in clashes near Syria's northern border, as Turkey hit back against what it said was new mortar fire from inside Syria.
Damascus, for its part, said four Turks were among a convoy of "terrorists" killed in the heart of Aleppo, just hours after UN condemnation of deadly jihadist bombings in the country's commercial capital.
Forty government soldiers and nine rebels were killed on Saturday when rebels took a town in the northwestern province of Idlib near the border, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"The clashes at Khirbat al-Joz ... ended when fighters of the rebel brigades took control of the area," said the Britain-based watchdog.
Smoke billows over Aleppo, Syria in this image grab taken from a YouTube video. Turkey has returned fire on Syria for the fourth day in a row, amid fears the crisis could escalate.
"The fighting lasted more than 12 hours and resulted in at least 40 dead among the regular forces, including five officers, and nine (rebel) fighters," it added after earlier reporting 25 soldiers and three rebels dead.
Turkish officials said they were sure a mortar round that struck on Saturday morning was fired by pro-government forces in Syria, and not rebels who have been fighting for nearly 19 months to oust President Bashar al-Assad.
It prompted fresh retaliatory fire after reprisals on Wednesday and Thursday for the previous shelling, the Hatay provincial governor's office said.
"A mortar round struck today (Saturday) at 7.00am (1500 AEST) about 50 metres inside Turkish territory in an open space about 700 metres from the village of Guvecci and about 300 metres from a police station."
No casualties were reported.
The Turkish army responded with four mortar rounds, the governor's office said, adding that the Syrian fire had come from loyalists who were firing at rebels near the border.
Demonstrators hold placards reading "No War" as they take part in a protest against a possible war with Syria, in Istanbul, Turkey. Picture: AFP
The cross-border exchanges came despite unanimous condemnation from the UN Security Council on Thursday of deadly shelling from the Syrian side further east in Sanliurfa province that killed five people.
Following that incident, the Turkish parliament authorised further military action but Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was not seeking a mandate for war.
In a new statement on Friday, the Security Council condemned bombings on Wednesday claimed by a jihadist group that killed nearly 50 people in Aleppo, expressing condolences to families of the victims "of these heinous acts."
Local women mourn the five Turkish civilians killed on October 3 by a mortar bomb in the southern border town of Akcakale. Turkey hammered Syrian targets in reprisal for the deadly cross-border fire. Picture: Bulent Kilic/AFP
Turkey has set new rules of engagement after the shells from Syria hit Turkish territory. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said retaliatory artillery fire would now be the standard response.
Davutoglu insisted that "we haven't taken a step toward war", but Turkey's threat to fire back for each errant Syrian shell was bound to keep border tensions high. Turkey is one of Assad's harshest critics and a key supporter of Syria's opposition.
The week's daily cross-border exchanges have heightened fears of a regional conflagration.
The Saif al-Dawla district of the northern city of Aleppo has been partially destoryed during fighting between rebels and pro-government forces. Picture: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP
Syria's civil war has been stalemated for months, but Syrian Defence Minister General Fahd Jassem al-Freij insisted on Saturday that the regime is gaining the upper hand.
The government denies it is facing a home-grown rebellion, saying it is being targeted by a foreign conspiracy against the regime's support for anti-Israeli groups.
"The most dangerous parts of the conspiracy have ... passed and the killing is on its way to decline," said al-Freij, who was named to the job after his predecessor was assassinated in July. He offered amnesty to rebels who repent but said those who don't "will be crushed under the feet of our soldiers".
Syrian rebels patrol the town of Tal Abyad near the border with Turkey. Turkey's Prime Minister warned Syria it was "not bluffing" and would act if threated by the Syrian regime.
The Syrian president, meanwhile, made a rare public appearance on Saturday to commemorate the anniversary of the outbreak of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, also known as the October War.
Syria's state-run news agency SANA linked Saturday's anniversary to the current conflict, saying that in both cases "Syria is facing an enemy armed with Western and Israeli weapons".
Along with regime's new warnings to the rebels, Syrian troops backed by warplanes and combat helicopters launched attacks on rebel-held areas near the Syrian town of Quseir, close to Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, on Saturday, Lebanese security officials said.
Syrians refugees wait in a camp near the northern town of Azaz, on the Turkish border. Picture: AFP
Opposition activists also reported intense government shelling in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's largest and a commercial hub, and in the central city of Homs.
The battlefield stalemate is most apparent in those two cities.
Syrian forces have been bombing and shelling from a distance but have been unable to dislodge opposition fighters holed up in devastated neighbourhoods. Retaking Aleppo and Homs could give the regime some breathing room.
In Aleppo, government forces gained some ground in recent house-to-house combat, according to an Associated Press journalist in the city.
On Saturday, government troops captured the city's Sakhour roundabout after days of heavy fighting, a Syrian official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Heavy shelling also was reported in Taibeh, a town near Homs, an early centre of the uprising. Opposition activists said at least 10 people were killed and dozens wounded.
Amateur video from Taibeh, posted on Saturday, showed several badly disfigured bodies being pulled from the back of a pickup truck by distraught bystanders. One body was carried away on a red stretcher.
In another video, masked rebel fighters posed with assault rifles in what they said is an air defence base east of Damascus they captured earlier in the week.
The video showed captured weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles, heavy machine guns and large-calibre ammunition. The rebels surrounded a group of captured regime soldiers. The captives, some with bandages on their heads, each stood up and gave their rank and name.
The authenticity of such videos cannot be confirmed independently because Syria imposes tight restrictions on foreign journalists.
In a success for the opposition, activists said rebel fighters took control of the village of Khirbet el-Jouz in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, about 16 kilometres from the Turkish town of Guvecci.
Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency said that rebels planted their flag on the roof of a building that had been used as a base by regime troops in the village. The takeover came after intense clashes, with mortar shells exploding at a relentless pace, some near the Turkish border, Anadolu said.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
07102012
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
No comments:
Post a Comment