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Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

Cross-border shelling continues between Syria and Turkey

Nicholas Slayton |
October 5, 2012 | 4:42 p.m. PDT

Executive Producer

(Dawn Megli / Neon Tommy)
(Dawn Megli / Neon Tommy)

Turkey and Syria exchanged fire for the third straight day after a Syrian mortar sparked a fresh round of shelling from the Turkish military.

Today's exchange in artillery fire left no casualties, but continue a recent period of hostility between the neighboring states. Turkish media says that Syria's government has not yet issued an apology for the first cross-border strike on Wednesday, which killed five Turkish civilians.

The Syrian military is currently shelling the city of Aleppo, near the Turkish border, as part of the ongoing civil war. Fighting between the army and rebels in the city has been intense, with many parts of the city leveled by artillery.

Syrian rebels said that the recent cross-border attacks have created a de-facto buffer zone in Syria near the border. Rebels have been calling for such a zone from the United Nations as a way to allow refugees to flee to safety. However, despite claims from the rebels, there has not been a formal announcement.

Turkish media is claiming that the Assad government is supporting this notion, but Damascus has not commented on it. The government in Ankara has not responded officially either.

Following the start of hostilities, Turkey's parliament authorized the use of military force in other counties, but do call the new measures a declaration of war.

Find more Neon Tommy coverage on Syria here.

Reach Executive Producer Nicholas Slayton here. Follow him here.



 

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