Turkey closes border with Syria

All of Turkey’s borders with Syria will be closed on Wednesday, according a Turkish television report which quoted the country’s Customs and Trade Minister Hayati Yazici.

Syrian rebels have already seized control of many of the border gates and are trying to take nearby towns in order to create a buffer zone and an area where they can base themselves and plan attacks from.

In an effort to combat this strategy, the government on Wednesday morning sent thousands of troops to Aleppo, the largest city with the biggest population, which is also only 50 kilometres away from the Turkish border.

Government forces are also targeting the border region of Idlib.

Opposition sources claim the army has largely lost control of Deraa, birthplace of the uprising 16 months ago. However, rebels say innocent civilians, including children, are dying everyday because of military shelling.

Overnight, supporters of the opposition held protests in Damascus. The Syrian capital is still seeing violence in some neighbourhoods as government troops try to stamp out rebel resistance.

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