ALEPPO: Syrian and Jordanian forces clashed along the border overnight in an incident that highlighted international concerns that the civil war in Syria could ignite a wider regional conflict.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stepped up efforts to tackle the worsening Syria crisis on Saturday when she arrived in Turkey for talks with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and members of the Syrian opposition.
Troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad tried to snuff out resistance in Aleppo, the country’s biggest city, but rebels said they would hit back despite having lost ground and run low on ammunition.
“We can handle the bombing,” rebel commander Abu Thadet said in Aleppo. “It’s the snipers that are making it hard.”
The border clash broke out after Syrian refugees tried to cross into Jordan, a Syrian opposition activist who witnessed the fighting said.
Syrian troops fired across the frontier and fighting ensued, a Jordanian said. No one was reported killed on Jordan’s side.
Armored vehicles were involved in the clash in the Tel Shihab-Turra area, about 80 km (50 miles) north of the Jordanian capital Amman, the Syrian activist said.
Jordanian troops have fired near the border in the past to stop Syrian forces shooting at fleeing refugees.
But the latest clash – the most serious incident between the two countries since the uprising against Assad began 17 months ago – is likely to alarm Western powers who fear any spread of violence in a region divided over the conflict.
Assad, who is allied to Irans, is fighting to crush a rebellion that aims to end his family’s four decades in charge of Syria. A member of the country’s Alawite minority, he is battling mostly Sunni Muslim foes who Damascus says are backed by Sunni-led states such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. (Reuters)
