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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Turkey, Syria trade fire |
| 2012-10-09 |
| AKCAKALE, Turkey: Turkey and Syria fired artillery and mortars across their volatile border for a fifth consecutive day on Sunday, in one of the most serious and prolonged flare-ups of violence along the frontier. The exchange of fire stoked fears that Syria’s civil war will escalate into a regional conflagration drawing in NATO member Turkey. On Sunday, an Associated Press journalist witnessed a round landing some 200 meters (yards) inside Turkey, near the border town of Akcakale. A short time later, eight artillery shells could be heard fired from Turkey. In the Turkish town of Akcakale, mayor Abdulhakim Ayhan said shrapnel from the Syrian mortar round caused some damage to a grain depot, but no one was hurt. He confirmed that Turkish artillery immediately returned fire. The Anadolu Agency reported that Assad’s forces have been shelling the town of Tal Abyad, just across from Akcakale, which is controlled by Syrian rebels. Turkey’s private Dogan news agency reported that a six-vehicle military convoy, including two carrying howitzers, was seen traveling from the city of Gaziantep toward the Syrian border. Inside Syria, forces loyal to Assad clashed with rebels across the country, from the northern city of Aleppo to the southern border with Jordan, killing according to activist groups at least 90 people across the country. Activists said opposition fighters were strengthening their hold over the village off Khirbet Al-Jouz, in the northern province of Idlib, which borders Turkey and where violent clashes broke out a day earlier. The Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency said Sunday that the rebels had regained full control of Khirbet Al-Jouz. It said the Syrian army was forced to “pull back” following an “offensive” by some 700 rebels. It also reported that Assad’s troops were forced to retreat some 20 kilometers (12 miles) toward the town of Jisr Al-Shughour. It said rebels in Khirbet Al-Jouz celebrated their victory by firing their weapons into the air. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said regime forces pulled out of two villages in the Idlib countryside near Turkey. In Khirbet Al-Jouz, wounded Syrian soldiers were left to fend for themselves after government troops were forced to retreat from the area, the Observatory said. The reports could not be independently confirmed, and it was not clear whether the wounded soldiers were captured by the rebels. In Damascus, a car bomb exploded in the parking lot of the local police headquarters in central Damascus, killing one member of the military, the state-run SANA news agency said. The explosion is the latest in a series of bombs and suicide attack targeting security personnel and government institutions. Elsewhere, Syrian troops were widening their offensive to retake rebel-held areas in the northern city of Aleppo and the suburbs of Damascus, as well as the central province of Homs and villages on the southern border with Jordan. The Observatory said some of the heaviest fighting Sunday was in Aleppo province. At least three people were killed and scores were wounded when the army pounded the town of Manbaj in Aleppo’s suburbs. Syria’s defense minister said Saturday that the government is ready to give amnesty to rebels who repent and those who don’t “will be crushed under the feet of our soldiers.” Gen. Fahd Jassem Al-Freij, who became defense minister in July after his predecessor was assassinated, also claimed that the regime was getting the upper hand. “The most dangerous parts of the conspiracy have been passed and the killing is on its way to decline,” he said. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #7 you mean like the 4th ID in the Iraq war? F*CK THEM |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-10-09 19:39 |
| #6 Turkey is a member of NATO whose members automatically are guaranteed NATO/aka us troops if attacked. |
| Posted by: wr 2012-10-09 19:29 |
| #5 Do I care? Green on green is great. How can we keep both sides going to the benefit of the Kurds? |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2012-10-09 08:37 |
| #4 There's no question that the mortar rounds are being fired by the Syrian Govt. Each mortar round carries a message "F*ck you Turkey" and is personally signed by Assad. |
| Posted by: tipper 2012-10-09 02:44 |
| #3 The Turks I understand...But are the Syrians It's probably Turk sponsored "freedom fighters". Erdogan wanted to start a war for a long time---and he's not crazy enough, yet, to start one with Israel. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2012-10-09 01:21 |
| #2 Russia + prolly Iran aren't likely to care as long as there is no escalation by either side. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2012-10-09 00:44 |
| #1 The Turks I understand, since cross-border rounds are insult to their mustaches. But are the Syrians actually firing on someone/something specific? All these reports sound like stray rounds or inshallah fire control. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2012-10-09 00:07 |