Turkey feels the force of violence in Syria
Source: Agencies |
April 10, 2012, Tuesday
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The bloody conflict in Syria spilled across two borders yesterday, killing a cameraman in Lebanon and wounding at least five people in a refugee camp in Turkey.
The violence came as a United Nations-brokered peace plan all but collapsed and bolstered fears the uprising could spark a broader conflagration by sucking in neighboring countries.
Ali Shaaban, a cameraman for the Al Jadeed television station, was filming in Lebanon's northern Wadi Khaled area when a bullet pierced his chest, Lebanese security officials said. The gunfire came from the nearby Syrian village of Armouta, officials said.
Earlier in the day, Syrian forces fired across the border into a refugee camp in Turkey, wounding at least five people.
The Syrian soldiers were believed to be firing at rebels who tried to escape to the refugee camp after ambushing a military checkpoint, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, citing a network of sources on the ground.
Turkey shelters thousands of refugees who have fled Syria as President Bashar Assad tries to crush a revolt against his government. The UN estimates some 9,000 people have been killed in Syria since March 2011, when the uprising began.
The Syrian revolt began with mostly peaceful protests against Assad's government, a family dynasty that has ruled the country for four decades. Now, the uprising resembles an armed insurgency, and there are fears the country is spiraling toward civil war.
International envoy Kofi Annan brokered a cease-fire that was supposed to begin today, but the plan is in tatters.
Syrian troops were meant to pull out of population centers by this morning, but on Sunday the government introduced a new demand - saying it cannot withdraw without written guarantees from opposition fighters that they will lay down their arms. Syria's main rebel group rejected the demands.
Turkey hosts some 24,000 Syrian refugees, including hundreds of army defectors, and has floated the idea of setting up a buffer zone inside Syria if the flow of displaced people becomes overwhelming.
Annan is due to visit to a refugee camp in Hatay, bordering Syria, this afternoon.
The violence came as a United Nations-brokered peace plan all but collapsed and bolstered fears the uprising could spark a broader conflagration by sucking in neighboring countries.
Ali Shaaban, a cameraman for the Al Jadeed television station, was filming in Lebanon's northern Wadi Khaled area when a bullet pierced his chest, Lebanese security officials said. The gunfire came from the nearby Syrian village of Armouta, officials said.
Earlier in the day, Syrian forces fired across the border into a refugee camp in Turkey, wounding at least five people.
The Syrian soldiers were believed to be firing at rebels who tried to escape to the refugee camp after ambushing a military checkpoint, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, citing a network of sources on the ground.
Turkey shelters thousands of refugees who have fled Syria as President Bashar Assad tries to crush a revolt against his government. The UN estimates some 9,000 people have been killed in Syria since March 2011, when the uprising began.
The Syrian revolt began with mostly peaceful protests against Assad's government, a family dynasty that has ruled the country for four decades. Now, the uprising resembles an armed insurgency, and there are fears the country is spiraling toward civil war.
International envoy Kofi Annan brokered a cease-fire that was supposed to begin today, but the plan is in tatters.
Syrian troops were meant to pull out of population centers by this morning, but on Sunday the government introduced a new demand - saying it cannot withdraw without written guarantees from opposition fighters that they will lay down their arms. Syria's main rebel group rejected the demands.
Turkey hosts some 24,000 Syrian refugees, including hundreds of army defectors, and has floated the idea of setting up a buffer zone inside Syria if the flow of displaced people becomes overwhelming.
Annan is due to visit to a refugee camp in Hatay, bordering Syria, this afternoon.
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