TURKEY/SYRIA: Wounded women and children are treated in Turkish hospitals as Syrian army intensifies assault on rebel-held town of Ras al-Ain

Record ID: 281591

  • Title: TURKEY/SYRIA: Wounded women and children are treated in Turkish hospitals as Syrian army intensifies assault on rebel-held town of Ras al-Ain
  • Date: 12th November 2012
  • Summary: CEYLANPINAR, TURKEY (NOVEMBER 12, 2012) (REUTERS) STATE HOSPITAL IN CEYLANPINAR HOSPITAL SIGN AMBULANCE DRIVING IN TO HOSPITAL VARIOUS OF WOUNDED SYRIAN WOMEN BEING TAKE N OUT OF AMBULANCE WOUNDED WOMAN WEEPING WOUNDED WOMAN WALKING INSIDE THE HOSPITAL AND WEEPING AMBULANCE DRIVING WOUNDED WOMAN BEING TAKEN OUT OF AMBULANCE MEN STANDING OUTSIDE HOSPITAL TALKING WOUNDED WO
  • Embargoed: 27th November 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Conflict,Travel / Tourism
  • Reuters ID: LVA1YBMIDMID4P751SLKTBC551TX
  • Story Text: Dozens of wounded Syrians, mostly women and children were taken to hospitals in the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar on Monday (November 12) after jets and helicopters bombed the Syrian rebel-held town of Ras al-Ain.
    The Local Coordination Committee, a Syrian grassroots opposition group, said 16 people had died in the air strikes.
    The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at 12, including seven Islamist militant fighters.
    Syrian helicopters and war planes launched an air assault on the border town as the rebels retaliated with anti-aircraft artilleries. The fighting has sent scores of civilians scrambling for safety into Turkey.
    The town of Ras al-Ain fell to rebels on Thursday (November 8) during an advance into Syria's mixed Arab and Kurdish northeast.
    The town lies 600 km (375 miles) from Damascus and is part of Syria's northeastern oil-producing province of Hasaka, home to many of Syria's million-strong Kurdish minority.
    The offensive has caused some of the biggest refugee movements since the Syrian conflict began nearly 20 months ago.
    Though Turkey is reluctant to be drawn into a regional conflict, the proximity of Monday's bombing raids marked a fresh test of its pledge to defend itself from any violation of its territory or any spillover of violence from Syria.
    One of the jets struck within metres of the barbed-wire fence that divides Ras al-Ain from the Turkish settlement of Ceylanpinar, sending up plumes of black smoke.
    From a vantage point in Turkey close to the border, the warplane appeared at one point to enter Turkish airspace.
    Syrian Kurds have largely stayed away from the anti-Assad revolt and fear that the mostly Sunni Muslim Arab rebels will ignore their aspirations for autonomy in any post-Assad era.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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