Syrian forces start push at Turkish border

Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad began operations in the country's northwest and a town was "under siege," an activist coalition said. The Local Coordinating Committees in Syria said Friday heavy gunfire was heard in al-Sarmaneyah, near the new flashpoint town of Jisr al-Shoughour, but people already had fled across the border into Turkey or elsewhere, The New York Times reported. The organization said residents of al-Sarmaneyah burned tires in the streets to slow the march of Syrian troops into Jisr al-Shoughour. "The town is under siege by the army and security forces," the committee said in a statement. Syrian state news agency SANA reported troops were arresting members of "organized armed groups." A Syrian man at the refugee camp in Yayladagi, Turkey, told the Times other refugees in the camp spoke by phone with relatives near Jisr al-Shoughour and they reported a violent attack had begun. "They are talking about the army moving with all kinds of armed vehicles and shooting randomly," the man said. "They are also burning the harvest and livestock on the streets. The army passed through al-Sarmaneyah and troops are shooting everyone who comes along their way. It is terrible there." Turkish Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin, speaking Friday to reporters at the Yayladagi camp, repeated his call for Syria to end the violence against its citizens. Asked whether Turkey would participate in an international military intervention in Syria, Ergin, "We don't even want to consider that possibility." The Syrian security forces amassed around Jisr al-Shoughour Thursday after clashes during the weekend made the area the new focal point of the popular uprisings that moved across Syria since March. In Geneva, U.N. high Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called on Syria to stop the "assault on its own people." Reports indicate more than 1,100 people had been killed, and "10,000 or more" detained in the weeks since the unrest began, Pillay said, adding that the gathering of Syrian security forces in the northwest fueled concerns that the toll would rise. About 3,000 Syrians were in Turkish refugee camps as of Friday morning, officials said. "If such inflow continues, there could be a very serious humanitarian situation," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said. "Turkey is a powerful country," he said. "If a humanitarian situation develops, Turkey will do its best." The Red Crescent, the Muslim equivalent of the Red Cross, provided tents at the border camps located about 30 miles south of the Turkish city of Antakya. Despite the Red Crescent efforts, some families spent the night in the open, The Wall Street Journal reported. Turkey has a visa-free travel agreement with Syria and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged to honor it and to keep the Syrian border open. "We will always keep our doors open to our Syrian brothers and sisters," he said on Turkish Radio.