Syria, Turkey clash for fifth straight day
Syrian rebels ride a motorcycle during a patrol in the town of Tal Abyad near the border with Turkey on October 5, 2012.
Turkey and Syria traded fire for the fifth straight day today, with reports of a mortar landing in the village of Akcakale, prompting Turkey to return fire, reported BBC News.
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No casualties were immediately reported. The mortar hit several hundred meters from the village center, according to Reuters, just four days after Syrian shelling there killed five civilians.
NATO member Turkey has reserved the right to respond to continued shelling and on Thursday authorized cross-border military operations in Syria, where an armed uprising against the government has escalated into a deadly civil war.
The Turkish government on Friday deployed tanks and anti-aircraft missiles to Akcakale, according to BBC, while Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Damascus not to test Turkey's "limits and determination," reported the Associated Press.
Meanwhile, activists cited by BBC today reported increased violence in Syria's divided city Aleppo, where regime forces have been battling rebels for control.
Syrian activists say the 18-month conflict has taken some 30,000 lives. International efforts to defuse the crisis have not been successful.
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