Permulaan intervensi?
Tapi siapa yang membiayainya?
Atau sekedar untuk mengurangi tekanan pasukan pemerintah Sirui terhdap pasukan
oposisi?
--
Turkey renews shelling of Syrian targets
Retaliation follows mortar attack from Syrian territory that killed family of
five in border town of Akcakale.
Last Modified: 04 Oct 2012 07:00
Turkish armed forces have launched artillery attacks on a Syrian area near its
border in response to a mortar attack which killed five members of the same
family in southeastern Turkey.
Turkish state media has said that Turkey resumed cross-border artillery strikes
at Syrian targets on Thursday.
There are unconfirmed reports that several Syrian troops were killed as a
result of overnight Turkish shelling across the border in Tal al-Abyad.
The government in Ankara is expected to ask the parliament on Thursday to
authorise cross-border military operations in Syria, according to Turkish media
reports.
'Violation of international law'
In a statement on Wednesday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister,
said the attacks, carried out following radar tracking, were within the rules
of engagement.
Separately, Bulent Arinc, the deputy prime minister, said: "There has been an
attack on Turkey's mainland and its citizens lost their lives. There is
definitely a response to it in international law ... We are not blinded by
rage, but we will protect our rights to the end in the face of such an attack
on our soil that killed our people."
Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons, reporting from Antakya on the Turkish-Syrian
border, said Arinc's mention of "certain responsibilities" contained within
NATO treaty articles, could mean that Turkey responded without consulting
international bodies first.
Turkey has also asked the United Nations Security Council to take "necessary
action" to stop Syrian aggression, calling the mortar attack "a flagrant
violation of international law".
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said: "Several shells from the
Turkish side of the border fell on Syrian military positions near the village
of Tal al-Abyad".
Western officials, from Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO secretary-general, to
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, quickly condemned the initial
attack from the Syrian side of the border, which struck a house in the border
town of Akcakale.
Omran Zoabi, Syrian information minister, said Damascus was looking into the
origin of the deadly cross-border shelling.
In a statement reported by state television, Zoabi said: "Syria offers its
sincere condolences to the families of the victims and to our friends the
Turkish people".
US 'outraged'
Clinton said the White House was "outraged" by the "very dangerous situation"
created by the attack.
Turkey agreed to convene an urgent meeting of NATO members in Brussels to
discuss the shelling.
The meeting of NATO ambassadors fell under Article 4 of the NATO charter which
provides for consultations when a member state feels its territorial integrity,
political independence or security is under threat.
In-depth coverage of escalating violence across Syria
At the meeting, Turkey was expected to argue it was "fully entitled to respond"
in the manner in which it did, Al Jazeera's Simmons said.
Witnesses said policemen were also injured in the Akcakale shelling, which
originated only kilometres away from the Syrian border.
Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey's foreign minister, briefed Ban Ki-moon, the UN chief,
on the situation shortly after word of the attack reached Ankara.
Though this, the mortar attack, marks the third instance of Syrian gunfire or
artillery reaching Turkish territory, it is the "first time Turkey has actively
become involved" in the situation, our correspondent said.
Calling it a "very serious escalation", he said the last time there was such
tension between the neighbouring countries was when a Turkish war plane was
downed in June.
However, Turkey did not retaliate in that instance.
Aleppo explosions
Earlier on Wednesday, four blasts struck a government-controlled district close
to a military officers' club in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, killing
dozens and wounding more than 100, opposition activists said.
"A medical source said that at least 40 people were killed and 90 injured," the
UK-based watchdog group SOHR said.
Anita McNaught reports from Sanliurfa in Turkey
"Most of them were regime troops."
Meanwhile, official television channel Al-Ikhbariya said 31 people were killed
and dozens more wounded.
The attacks within minutes of each other struck the main Saadallah al-Jabiri
Square near a military officers' club and a hotel.
Syrian state television reported of "terrorist explosions" in the city.
Al Jazeera's Rula Amin, reporting from Beirut in neighbouring Lebanon, said
there was still no clear claim of responsibility for the attacks.
"Fighting between the government forces and the rebels continue, but no one is
making any progress. The civilians are paying the price for it," she said.
Aleppo, Syria's commercial hub and largest city, has seen intensified fighting
between regime forces and rebels trying to oust President Bashar al-Assad,
especially after the fighters launched a new offensive last week.
Aleppo-based activist Mohammad Saeed said the explosions went off minutes apart
at one of the city's main squares.
He said the blasts appear to have been caused by car bombs and were followed by
clashes and heavy gunfire.
Possible suicide bombings
In a statement, the SOHR said the explosions went off following a clash between
guards at the military club and armed men, suggesting the attacks may have been
suicide bombings.
Suicide and car bombings targeting security agencies and soldiers have become
common in Syria, particularly in the capital, Damascus, during the course of
the 18-month-uprising against Assad.
But such bombings have been rare in Aleppo, which was spared the mayhem that
struck other Syrian cities during the first year of the revolt.
Then, in February, two suicide car bombers hit security compounds in Aleppo's
industrial centre, killing 28 people.
Nationwide, at least 104 people were killed on Tuesday, 57 civilians, 26
soldiers and 21 rebels, the SOHR said.
The uprising against Assad, that erupted in March 2011, has gradually morphed
into a bloody civil war.
The conflict has killed more than 30,000 people, activists say, and has
devastated entire neighbourhoods in Syria's main cities, including Aleppo.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
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