Syria: General defects, escapes to Turkey with thousands

ANKARA, Turkey – A Syrian brigadier-general and several other defected military officers were among 1,280 Syrians to have fled from Syria to Turkey overnight, a Turkish official said on Tuesday.

The official said the latest defections brought the number of Syrian generals sheltering in Turkey to 18, including a retired general. An undisclosed number of officers also defected with their families, totalling 68 people including family members.

A total of 1,280 refugees crossed over into Turkey's southern Hatay province overnight, bringing the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey to 42,680, the official said.

(Writing by Jonathon Burch, editing by Diana Abdallah)

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