Turkey scrambles jets as Syria bombs border town
Syrian government forces have bombed rebel positions
in the frontier town of Ras al-Ain, killing at least 12 people according
to opposition activists, and prompting Turkey to scramble fighter jets
along the border.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said six
of those killed by the air raids on the Syrian town's Mahatta
neighbourhood on Monday were rebel fighters and that 30 people were
wounded.Heavy bursts of anti-aircraft fire shook the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar, which abuts Ras al-Ain, sending residents fleeing for cover.
Columns of smoke rose up from the Syrian side and ambulances rushed the wounded to hospital.
Security sources said Turkish F-16 jets were scrambled from their base in the south-eastern city of Diyarbakir after the air raids on the rebel Free Syrian Army's headquarters in Ras al-Ain, in a warning to Damascus not to breach Turkish territory.
Rebels overran the town almost a month ago in fighting which has triggered some of the biggest refugee movements of Syria's 20-month-old civil war, and has tested Turkey's resolve to defend itself against any spill over of violence.
Shells landed in Ceylanpinar during Monday's fighting, the security sources said, although it was not immediately clear whether they were fired by forces loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad or by the rebels.
Turkey, a main backer of Syria's opposition, has asked NATO for Patriot surface-to-air missiles to be positioned near its 900-kilometre border with Syria as a defensive measure.
It has repeatedly fired back over the border in response to stray shells and gunfire flying into its territory.
Ankara is concerned about its neighbour's chemical weapons, the growing refugee crisis on its border, and what it says is Syrian support for Kurdish militants on its soil.
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