Ankara: 2,400 Syrians flee into Turkey overnight

Refugees include two generals and two colonels

8 August 2012, 11:46 am
Syrian children clean a school in which they sought refuge from the fighting in Kafr Hama (six miles north of Aleppo) on Tuesday (photo credit: AP/Khalil Hamra)

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s state-run news agency says some 2,400 people crossed into Turkey overnight to escape the escalating violence in Syria.

The Anadolu Agency said Wednesday that included two generals and two colonels.

A graphic depicting the number of registered Syrian refugees and the respective countries of asylum, as of August 2012 (photo credit: AP)

There has been a marked increase in the number of refugees fleeing to Turkey in the past two days. Officials reported 1,328 arrivals on Tuesday as rebels tried to expand their hold inside Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, close to the border.

Some 50,000 Syrians have now found refuge in Turkey, which has served as a staging ground for rebels fighting President Bashar Assad’s regime. Even more refugees have crossed into Jordan and Lebanon.

On Tuesday, Assad made his first appearance on state TV in nearly three weeks, as the U.S. urged more planning for the regime’s collapse.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

read more: