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Syria Presses Bombardment of Border Town Syria Presses Bombardment of Border Town
(about 3 hours later)
GAZIANTEP, Turkey — Syria pulled both Turkey and Israel closer to military entanglements in its civil war, bombing a rebel-held Syrian village a few yards from the Turkish border in a deadly aerial assault for the second day on Tuesday after provoking Israeli tank commanders in the disputed Golan Heights into blasting a mobile Syrian artillery unit across their own armistice line a day earlier. GAZIANTEP, Turkey — Syria pulled Turkey and Israel closer to military entanglements in its civil war, bombing a rebel-held Syrian village a few yards from the Turkish border for the second straight day on Tuesday after Israeli tank commanders in the disputed Golan Heights blasted a mobile Syrian artillery unit across their own armistice line on Monday.
The escalations, which threatened once again to draw in two of Syria’s most powerful neighbors, came hours after the fractious Syrian opposition announced a broad new unity pact that elicited praise from the big foreign powers backing its effort to topple President Bashar al-Assad. The escalations involving two of Syria’s most powerful neighbors came hours after the fractious Syrian opposition announced a broad new unity pact that elicited praise from the big foreign powers backing its effort to topple President Bashar al-Assad. There has been speculation that Mr. Assad, feeling increasingly threatened, may deliberately seek to widen the conflict that has consumed much of his country for the last 20 months, leaving roughly 40,000 people dead, millions of civilians internally displaced and over 400,000 people registered as refugees in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. Although there was no indication that Mr. Assad was trying to lure Israel into the fight, any Israeli involvement could rally his failing support and frustrate the efforts of his Arab adversaries.
“It is a big day for the Syrian opposition,” wrote Joshua Landis, an expert on Syrian political history and the author of the widely followed Syria Comment blog. Professor Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, wrote that the “Assad regime must be worried, as it has survived for 42 years thanks to Syria’s fragmentation.” Relief agencies meanwhile warned on Tuesday of a growing humanitarian crisis, with about 2.5 million people driven from their homes throughout the conflict, according to the United Nations’ refugee agency, which cited citing estimates from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, the principal local partner delivering relief for international agencies.
There has been speculation that Mr. Assad, feeling increasingly threatened, may deliberately seek to widen the conflict that has consumed much of his country for the last 20 months, leaving roughly 40,000 people dead and over 400,000 refugees in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. Although there was no indication that Mr. Assad was trying to lure Israel into the fight, any Israeli involvement could rally his failing support and frustrate the efforts of his Arab adversaries. Previous assessments said 1.2 million people were displaced by the civil war, but even the new figure might not capture the full extent of the crisis.
The attack on the Turkish border, by what Syrian witnesses identified as a Syrian MIG-25 warplane, demolished at least 15 buildings and killed at least 20 people on Monday in the Syrian town of Ras al-Ain, the scene of heavy fighting for days and an impromptu crossing point for thousands of Syrians clambering for safety in Turkey. “People are really on the run, hiding,” Melissa Fleming, the spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said in Geneva on Tuesday. “They are difficult to count and difficult to access.”
News agencies reported that a Syrian jet attacked near the town again on Tuesday morning. One person was killed and three were wounded, according to an official on the Turkish side of the border who was quoted by The Associated Press.  More than 4,000 Syrians had fled to Jordan in the past week, the highest weekly  outflow there in two months, Ms. Fleming said, in addition to some 9,000 Syrians who crossed last week into Turkey. Increasing numbers of Kurdish Syrians were escaping to Iraq which is now hosting more than 50,000 Syrian refugees, she said.
Shop and house windows in Ceylanpinar, just across the border, were shattered by the bombing’s force, and Turkish television showed people on both sides of the border running in panic as military vehicles raced down streets and a huge cloud of smoke hung over the area after the first attack.  As further evidence of widening violence, Ms. Fleming said the United Nations refugee agency was withdrawing some of its staff from the northeastern governorate of Hassakeh. On Monday, an attack on the Turkish border, by what Syrian witnesses identified as a Syrian MIG-25 warplane, demolished at least 15 buildings and killed at least 20 people in the Syrian town of Ras al-Ain, the scene of heavy fighting for days and an impromptu crossing point for thousands of Syrians clambering for safety in Turkey.
There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries in Ceylanpinar. But the Turkish authorities, increasingly angered by what they view as Syrian provocations, have deployed troops and artillery units along the 550-mile border with Syria and have raised the idea of installing Patriot missile batteries that could deter Syrian military aircraft. On Tuesday, a Syrian jet attacked near the town again, killing one person and wounding three, according to an official on the Turkish side of the border quoted by The Associated Press.
Turkey’s foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, sent a diplomatic note to Syria on Monday to protest the Ras al-Ain bombing, the semiofficial Anatolian News Agency reported. The Turkish authorities, increasingly angered by what they view as Syrian provocations, have deployed troops and artillery units along the 550-mile border with Syria and have raised the idea of installing Patriot missile batteries that could deter Syrian military aircraft.
Turkey’s foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, sent a diplomatic note to Syria on Monday to protest the first Ras al-Ain bombing, the semiofficial Anatolian News Agency reported.
Civilians in southern Turkey’s provinces of Hatay, Sanliurfa and Gaziantep, where the government has erected camps for Syrian refugees, have been advised not to travel close to the border.Civilians in southern Turkey’s provinces of Hatay, Sanliurfa and Gaziantep, where the government has erected camps for Syrian refugees, have been advised not to travel close to the border.
The United Nations, which monitors an armistice agreement between Israel and Syria in force since the 1973 war, has said it feared that Golan violence could jeopardize the cease-fire.
In Israel, the military said Israeli tanks that are deployed in the Golan Heights, which the Israelis seized from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, had made a direct hit on a Syrian mobile artillery launcher on Monday after consecutive days of erratic mortar fire coming from the Syrian side of the armistice line.In Israel, the military said Israeli tanks that are deployed in the Golan Heights, which the Israelis seized from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, had made a direct hit on a Syrian mobile artillery launcher on Monday after consecutive days of erratic mortar fire coming from the Syrian side of the armistice line.
Military officials and analysts in Israel said that they viewed the shelling by the Syrian government forces as unintentional spillover and that Israel had no desire to get involved in the Syria conflict.Military officials and analysts in Israel said that they viewed the shelling by the Syrian government forces as unintentional spillover and that Israel had no desire to get involved in the Syria conflict.
But some Israelis said that after four decades of relative stability in the Golan area, the Assad government may be trying to push them into a fight that could galvanize Arab hostility toward Israel and distract attention from its own problems.But some Israelis said that after four decades of relative stability in the Golan area, the Assad government may be trying to push them into a fight that could galvanize Arab hostility toward Israel and distract attention from its own problems.
Others said Mr. Assad was unlikely to want to provoke Israel, afraid of a crushing response that could weaken him militarily. If, for example, an errant Syrian shell hit a school filled with children on the Israeli side, said Prof. Moshe Maoz at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a strong Israeli strike on Syrian government forces would be all but guaranteed. “Assad knows very well that Israel does not have a sense of humor here and can retaliate very heavily,” he said. Others said Mr. Assad was unlikely to want to provoke Israel, afraid of a crushing response that could weaken him militarily.
Regardless, there is fear in Israel that the situation could escalate. The United Nations, which monitors an armistice agreement between Israel and Syria in force since the 1973 war, has said it feared that Golan violence could jeopardize the cease-fire.
In Doha, Qatar, where Syrian opposition figures had been meeting since last week, the agreement reached Sunday on forming a new umbrella organization, which could become the basis for a provisional government, was welcomed by participants and the effort’s foreign backers, including Turkey, the United States, the European Union and the Arab League.In Doha, Qatar, where Syrian opposition figures had been meeting since last week, the agreement reached Sunday on forming a new umbrella organization, which could become the basis for a provisional government, was welcomed by participants and the effort’s foreign backers, including Turkey, the United States, the European Union and the Arab League.
There were expectations that the new group, called the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, would be permitted to take Syria’s seat at the Arab League, which expelled Mr. Assad’s representative.There were expectations that the new group, called the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, would be permitted to take Syria’s seat at the Arab League, which expelled Mr. Assad’s representative.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry released a statement saying that the agreement “would add momentum to efforts in completing the democratic transition process in line with the legitimate expectations of the people.”

Sebnem Arsu reported from Gaziantep, and Rick Gladstone from New York. Isabel Kershner contributed reporting from Jerusalem, Nick Cumming-Bruce from Geneva, Hania Mourtada and Hwaida Saad from Beirut, Lebanon, and Richard Berry from Paris.

In the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, a battleground since the summer, civilians who have been living under the threat of constant shelling by the Syrian Army welcomed the unity agreement and expressed hope that it signaled a turn in the conflict.
“We have been waiting for this for a very very long time,” said Abu al-Hasan, an anti-Assad activist in Aleppo who was reached by telephone. “Even if it is not perfect yet, it will save us.” But he also warned that “people do not believe this will stop the shelling like a miracle.”
There was no sign that the violence was abating elsewhere inside Syria. Activist groups said that warplanes were dropping bombs in Damascus suburbs and that army snipers had taken up positions in areas where bombs had been dropped. The mayhem surrounding central Damascus made residents in that part of the capital feel increasingly isolated.
“The inside of the city is like a big prison now,” said Alexia Jade, an activist contacted in Damascus. “The checkpoints have increased and the lines of cars waiting to be searched are getting longer.”

Sebnem Arsu reported from Gaziantep, and Rick Gladstone from New York. Isabel Kershner contributed reporting from Jerusalem, Hania Mourtada and Hwaida Saad from Beirut, Lebanon, and Richard Berry from Paris.