Turkish army shells Syria in response to mortar attack

The Turkish military fired back after a mortar shell from Syria, fell inside Turkey's Hatay province near the Syrian border on Wednesday.

The mortar round hit a field near Hacıpasa, a town in Hatay province, without causing casualties on the Turkish side, Turkey's NTV news channel reported.

"Thank Allah there were no victims. Turkish artillery immediately responded to the shots that came from Syria," Hatay governor's office reported. Adding that Syrian forces targeted the fleeing Syrians, who escaped from the raging battles near the border.

The Syrian regime authorities have made no comment on the incident so far.

Earlier, five civilians, including three children, were killed in Akcakale in a mortar strike that provoked counter-fire. This is the most serious incident since Syrian anti-aircraft fire brought down a Turkish warplane about eight miles away from the Syrian town of Latakia in June.

Also on Wednesday, international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi told reporters in Lebanon that the conflict in Syria will inevitably spread to the neighboring countries and to the region at large, unless it is halted in due time.

"This crisis can not be confined indefinitely for the Syrian territory. Either it is set, or it will get worse, overflow, and will bring the region with fire and blood," said Mr. Brahimi.

He also hoped that the cease-fire set for the Eid al-Adha holiday will help to create an environment that would allow a political process to develop for permanent solution to the crisis.

“The Syrian people will not enjoy a happy Adha holiday, but they should at least enjoy a truce. This will be a microscopic chance to lead to a permanent cease-fire, halt in the smuggling of arms, and agreement on a political solution,” Brahimi added.

Brahimi stressed that everyone says that the bloodshed in Syria is very dangerous and it must stop, but everyone on both sides is to be blamed.

Earlier reports had revealed that the Syrian regime is prepared to discuss the proposal in talks with Brahimi, while the leader of the Syrian National Council opposition group Abdel Basset Seida said: "We would welcome any halt to the killings, but we think the appeal needs to be addressed first to the Syrian regime, which has not stopped bombarding Syrian towns and villages."

On the ground, fighting in Syria continued Wednesday in particular, near Maaret al-Numan, as the regime warplanes were carrying out their bombings raids.

Rights groups said that the Free Syrian fighters attacked a six-tank convoy of government troops in the town of Maarhtat as it was making its way to reinforce the nearby Wadi Deif army base, the largest in the region.

Meanwhile, a video from the Free Syrian fighters purports to show they had shot down a Syrian military helicopter near Damascus. The video could not be independently confirmed.

Opinion:

For the fifth time a mortar falls inside the Turkish border, and as usual Turkey responded. The Syrian regime noticed that Turkey threatens much, but does little, so it continued its attacks. I think that the Syrian regime will not mention this incident in the media.

On the other hand, it seems that Brahimi hopes to make an achievement of the proposed truce. For sure, the Security Council supports his plan, but on the ground nothing indicates that his plan is going to be successful. The reason is, that this man has the conviction that the butcher and the victim are both mistaken. For this, Brahimi needs to know that the first person killed in the Syrian people's revolution against the regime of Assad 20 months ago was a protestor demanding the fall of Assad's regime!

The Free Syrian Army and the opposition understand the methods of the regime that ruled them for more than 40 years. Therefore they are dealing with all international proposals positively, but at the same time they will never surrender their weapons, except to the new regime which will come after the elimination of Assad regime.

Syrian media published news of the day, talking about a large number of Syrian opposition living abroad and contacting the embassies of the regime to apologize for their stance against the regime, hoping that the regime would forgive them. Such stories have been denied by the Syrian opposition; they defied the regime to provide the name of one opposition member who, as they claim, asked for forgiveness!

Apparently, the criminal regime started to rely on the media war now that they feel they are losing a lot on the ground.

Sources:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4293731,00.html

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-295656-turkey-strikes-syria-after-mortar-shell-lands-in-hatay.html

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/syria-conflict-could-set-region-ablaze-brahimi-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=32619&NewsCatID=352