Assad says Syria in real state of war as Turkey deploys tanks near Syrian border

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Tuesday that his country is in a “real situation of war," the state news agency SANA quoted Assad as telling a meeting of the new Syrian cabinet.

Assad told The new Syrian government headed by Riyad Hijab that all government policies and resources must be used to secure victory in the war.

The SANA news reported that Assad had provided his guidance for the ministers to launch of services, development and economic workshops for the affected areas following security events.

Meanwhile, Turkey's Hurriyet daily reported that Turkey has deployed a large number of tanks, long-distance guns and other military vehicles to the Syrian border. The move comes hours after Turkish Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened Syrian regime with retaliation over a jet downed in Syria.

Earlier, Interfax news reported that a Turkish troop convoy has set out from Diyarbakir and is heading towards the Syrian border.

On the ground, the violence continued on Tuesday, as clashes between forces loyal to Assad and rebels outside Damascus resulted in dozens killed.

Al Arabiya news reported that at least 92 people have been killed across the country by regime force gunfire.

The Syrian state news agency SANA said "armed terrorist groups" had blocked the old road from Damascus to Beirut.

"The clashes led to the killing of tens of terrorists, wounding a large number of them, arresting others and seizing their weapons which included RPG launchers, sniper rifles, machineguns and a huge amount of ammunition," the agency said.

Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/06/26/222891.html