Violence spirals in Syria, killing more than 100

DAMASCUS / KİLİS

Turkey’s army begins staging drill at the Syrian border near Öncupınar. AFP photo

Violence in Syria is continuing to spiral, after mortars rained down on a crowded marketplace in a Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital of Damascus, killing 21 people.

The attack on the Yarmouk camp came as the government battled rebel fighters in the nearby Damascus suburb of Tadamon on the evening of Aug. 2. Clashes there continued on Aug. 3 and sounds of explosions from the neighborhood could be heard from as far away as the mostly deserted Damascus downtown, with plumes of smoke seen rising into the sky.

The U.N. agency running Palestinian camps confirmed that at least 20 people had died in the shelling of Yarmouk. The Britain-based Syria Observatory for Human Rights, which first reported the deaths, said the mortars hit as shoppers were buying food for the evening meal.

Turkish drill near border

Sporadic clashes and shelling are also continuing in Aleppo, especially the opposition bastion of Salaheddine, as rebels and government forces hold different parts of that city. The U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous warned of a major assault on Aleppo in the coming days, as the government attempts to retake the rebel-held neighborhoods.

“The focus is now on Aleppo, where there has been a considerable build-up of military means, and where we have reason to believe that the main battle is about to start,” Ladsous told reporters in New York after briefing the Security Council on his trip to Syria.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s army has begun staging drills at the Syrian border following two-day tank exercises. Turkish tanks accompanied by armored personnel carriers and surface-to-air missile defenses are deployed at the Öncupınar crossing in the southeastern province of Kilis for the drills, the report said, adding that they would continue periodically.

Compiled from AFP and AP stories by the Daily News staff.