Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — President Bashar Assad has ordered military operations
along the borders of Lebanon and Turkey.

Opposition sources said Assad has approved assaults by the Syrian Army
on targets along the borders of Lebanon and Turkey. They said elite forces
were firing toward suspected rebels inside Lebanon and Turkey in broad
daylight ahead of a United Nations-sponsored deadline for a ceasefire.

“In a desperate attempt to crush the uprising, Syrian forces have
executed people in cold blood, civilians and opposition fighters alike,” Ole Solvang, a researcher for the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, said. “They are doing it in broad daylight and in front of witnesses, evidently not concerned about any accountability for their crimes.”

On April 9, a Lebanese television cameraman was shot and killed by Syrian troops as he was filming inside Lebanon. The cameraman, identified as Ali Shaaban, an employee of Al Jadid television, was shot in Wadi Khaled along the northern Lebanese border.

At the same time, Syrian troops fired into Turkey and shot at least five people. Opposition sources said Assad forces targeted Syrian rebels who were fleeing into Turkey on April 9. In all, they said, 150 people were killed by the Army in the northern province of Idlib.

“Not only has the violence not abated, it has been worse in recent days,” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two people along the
Turkish border were killed and 19 others injured by Syrian fire. The
London-based group said Sunni rebels first attacked a
Syrian Army checkpoint near the Turkish border and killed six soldiers.

The Syrian Army continued to fire as the rebels tried to escape into
Turkey. Turkey, which hosts 24,000 Syrian refugees, has acknowledged the
battle and said one of its police officers was injured.

The sources said Assad has been bolstered by increased military
assistance from Iran and Russia. They cited the deployment of a
Russian Navy destroyer off the coast of Syria, expected to remain in the
eastern Mediterranean until at least mid-May.

Ankara, building up its forces along the southeastern border,
has warned that it would not tolerate Syrian attacks inside Turkey. Turkish
Deputy Foreign Minister Naci Koru dismissed the prospect that the Assad
regime would honor an April 10 ceasefire deadline arranged by former UN
secretary-general Kofi Annan.

On April 10, Annan was scheduled to visit Syrian refugee camps in Turkey
as Assad forces continued to shell suspected Sunni rebel strongholds,
including the northern city of Aleppo. The regime has said it would not
honor the ceasefire until the rebels surrender their weapons.

“Attacks which have been going on since yesterday have shown that the
Annan plan cannot be implemented,” Koru said on April 9. “After Kofi Annan’s
visit tomorrow, a new stage will begin.”

Officials said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has been meeting
with leaders in the United States and European Union states to coordinate an
effort to halt Syrian border violations. They said Ankara was examining the
feasibility of a buffer zone that would extend into Syria.

“We will make assessments in response to this border violation,” Erdogan
said on April 10.

  Bashar Assad, Human Rights Watch, Kofin Annan, Lebanon, Lebanon borders in ‘broad daylight’, Recep Erdogan, Sunni rebels, Syrian Army border attacks, Syrian elite forces firing across Turkey, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Victoria Nuland, Wadi Khaled