At least 105 Syrians were killed yesterday in violence across Syria, a day before a UN planned peace plan is scheduled to start taking effect, a monitoring group said.
Shots fired from inside Syria wounded two Syrians and a Turkish translator in the first case of Syrian fire hitting people in Turkey
The toll included 23 members of the security forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and eight rebel fighters, while the rest were civilians, according to figures provided by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Tensions also rose with Syria’s neighbours after cross-border shootings killed a cameraman in Lebanon and wounded three people in Turkey.
Under a peace deal brokered by UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, Syria’s armed forces are supposed to withdraw from protest centres early today, with a complete end to fighting 48 hours later.
But the truce already appears in jeopardy after Damascus said it would keep its side of the bargain only if rebels gave written guarantees they would stop fighting, a demand rejected by rebel army chief Colonel Riyadh al-Asaad.
Yesterdays killings followed weekend violence that claimed almost 180 lives, most of them civilians.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said Syrian helicopters attacked the village of Kfar Zeita in Hama province as regular forces clashed on the ground with rebels.
At least 35 civilians were killed in regime bombardment of the village of Latamna in the province, the Observatory said.
“The regime had thought that it would control all areas. As this is not happening, it is procrastinating to gain time,” said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman.
“If the Annan plan does not work, no other plan would, and Syria would plunge into a civil war.”
On the northern border, shots fired from inside Syria wounded two Syrians and a Turkish translator in the first case of Syrian fire hitting people on Turkish soil.
The US said it was “absolutely outraged.”
“We strongly condemn any attack by the Syrian regime on refugees in bordering countries. We are absolutely outraged by today’s report,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.
The incident – on the eve of a visit by Annan to refugee camps – prompted Turkey’s foreign ministry to tell Syria’s mission in Ankara to “immediately halt the shooting,” a diplomatic source said.
Some 25,000 Syrian refugees are currently in camps in Turkey’s three provinces bordering Syria, after they fled the deadly year-long crackdown.
Milliyet newspaper reported yesterday that Ankara would consider using troops to secure humanitarian corridors in border areas if refugee numbers rose above 50,000. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, whose government is dominated by pro-Syrian parties, condemned yesterday’s death of Lebanese television cameraman Ali Shaaban, who was killed inside Lebanese territory by Syrian gunfire.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin, meanwhile, urged Damascus to honour its commitments.
If the Annan plan does not work, no other plan would, and Syria would plunge into a civil war
“China urges the Syrian government and parties concerned in Syria to seize the important opportunities, to honour their commitment of ceasefire and withdrawal of troops,” Liu said.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem was due today to meet Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Syrian ally Russia, along with Beijing, has blocked two UN Security Council draft resolutions condemning Damascus for its bloody crackdown.
On Sunday, the Syrian foreign ministry outlined the regime’s new conditions.
“To say that Syria will pull back its forces from towns on April 10 is inaccurate, Kofi Annan having not yet presented written guarantees on the acceptance by armed terrorist groups of a halt to all violence,” it said.