Syria launches air attacks on town near the Turkish border
Source: Agencies |
November 13, 2012, Tuesday
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SYRIAN warplanes tore along the Turkish frontier yesterday and bombed the rebel-held town of Ras al-Ain just meters inside the border, sending scores of civilians scrambling for safety into Turkey.
The Local Coordination Committees, a Syrian grassroots opposition group, said 16 people had died in the air strikes. The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at 12, including seven Islamist militant fighters.
Helicopters also strafed targets near Ras al-Ain, which fell to rebels on Thursday during an advance into Syria's mixed Arab and Kurdish northeast.
The offensive has caused some of the biggest refugee movements since the Syrian conflict began nearly 20 months ago.
Though Turkey is reluctant to be drawn into a regional conflict, the proximity of yesterday's bombing raids marked a fresh test of its pledge to defend itself from any violation of its territory or any spillover of violence from Syria.
One of the jets struck within meters of the barbed-wire fence that divides Ras al-Ain from the Turkish settlement of Ceylanpinar, sending up plumes of black smoke.
From a vantage point in Turkey close to the border, the warplane appeared at one point to enter Turkish airspace.
At a clinic in Ceylanpinar, doctors tended a small child covered in blood. Anxious residents crowded outside a teahouse, watching the bombing and helicopter.
"I thought the Turkish government said it wouldn't allow these helicopters to come so close to the border," said one Turk, who declined to be named. "Look, they're coming inside our border."
Meanwhile, an Israeli tank scored "direct hits" yesterday on a Syrian army vehicle after a mortar shell landed on Israeli-held territory, the military said.
It was the first direct confrontation between the countries since the Syrian uprising broke out, sharpening fears Israel could be drawn into the civil war next door.
Israel has tried to avoid getting sucked into the Syrian conflict, but it has grown increasingly worried after a mortar shells have struck its territory in the Golan Heights.
The Local Coordination Committees, a Syrian grassroots opposition group, said 16 people had died in the air strikes. The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at 12, including seven Islamist militant fighters.
Helicopters also strafed targets near Ras al-Ain, which fell to rebels on Thursday during an advance into Syria's mixed Arab and Kurdish northeast.
The offensive has caused some of the biggest refugee movements since the Syrian conflict began nearly 20 months ago.
Though Turkey is reluctant to be drawn into a regional conflict, the proximity of yesterday's bombing raids marked a fresh test of its pledge to defend itself from any violation of its territory or any spillover of violence from Syria.
One of the jets struck within meters of the barbed-wire fence that divides Ras al-Ain from the Turkish settlement of Ceylanpinar, sending up plumes of black smoke.
From a vantage point in Turkey close to the border, the warplane appeared at one point to enter Turkish airspace.
At a clinic in Ceylanpinar, doctors tended a small child covered in blood. Anxious residents crowded outside a teahouse, watching the bombing and helicopter.
"I thought the Turkish government said it wouldn't allow these helicopters to come so close to the border," said one Turk, who declined to be named. "Look, they're coming inside our border."
Meanwhile, an Israeli tank scored "direct hits" yesterday on a Syrian army vehicle after a mortar shell landed on Israeli-held territory, the military said.
It was the first direct confrontation between the countries since the Syrian uprising broke out, sharpening fears Israel could be drawn into the civil war next door.
Israel has tried to avoid getting sucked into the Syrian conflict, but it has grown increasingly worried after a mortar shells have struck its territory in the Golan Heights.
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