Claims of Syrian military attack close to Turkish border

In Syria a border village with Turkey has come under attack from troops loyal to President Bashar al Assad. That is the claim behind this video posted on a social website. A lawyer in the town of Bdama backed up the reports saying he counted nine tanks while two houses were set on fire.

Bdama is just two kilometres from Turkey and is one of the nerve centres providing food to refugees taking shelter in surrounding fields.

The action comes following Friday’s protests believed to be the biggest since the unrest in the country began. Like the pictures from Bdama these from Hama have not been independently verified. At least 19 people have been killed.

Witnesses also claim government forces have been burning crops in a scorched earth policy as part of a campaign to crush a revolt in the north-west.

The Foreign Office said Britons should use “commercial means” to leave Syria while they were still available.

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