At some point in time, we are going to see either a devastating loss of life in either Syria or Turkey and at that point it might be on for real.
The latest story comes from The Telegraph.
Turkey fires into Syria for fifth day
Turkish artillery fired into Syrian territory yesterday for a fifth consecutive day, responding swiftly after the border town of Akcakale was once again struck by a mortar round
No-one was hurt when the shell, presumed to be from an Assad regime attack on a rebel-held border crossing near Tal Abyad, hit a grain silo on the Turkish side of the border near where five civilians were killed last week.
In response to that incident, Turkey promised to retaliate every time Syria struck Turkish territory, and kept to its words within minutes yesterday afternoon.
The incidents appeared to put the lie to claims that the Assad regime had promised to keep both land and air forces from striking within six miles of the frontier, reported at the end of last week. That would have allowed the creation of a buffer zone inside Syria, something which Turkey has long sought as an answer to the crisis caused by hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the fighting but which could also serve as a base for rebel operations.
The rebels are in any case managing to take control of large swathes of territory along the border. Yesterday, the Turkish state news agency as well as activists said the Syrian army had been driven from the town of Khirbat al-Joz, which has been fought over for several months. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 40 regime troops had died and others who had been wounded were abandoned as the army fled.
The rebels have wide support in rural areas in the north-west, many of which have long been strongholds for the Muslim Brotherhood many of whose members were killed or arrested during a previous uprising against the Assad regime 30 years ago.
The situation in the major cities is different, and the rebels are under great pressure in the half of Aleppo they seized in July, facing bombardment behind their lines and regime attacks across a string of fronts. They are also unable to get a foothold in any significant area of Damascus, with government forces driving them out as soon as they become established, as with the suburbs of Qudsayah and Hameh yesterday.
General Fahd Jassem al-Freij, the Syrian defence minister, claimed that the tide had turned in the government’s favour. “The most dangerous parts of the conspiracy have passed and the killing is on its way to decline,” he said.
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