A man, wounded during the clashes on the Syrian side of the border, lies on a stretcher upon his arrival at a hospital in the border city of Kilis, southern Turkey, Monday. — Reuters BEIRUT — Syria's conflict Monday spilled over into Turkey and government forces battled rebel fighters near the border in clashes that appeared to doom a ceasefire less than 24 hours before a UN-brokered deadline for a Syrian army pullback. Clashes between Syrian soldiers and rebels along the border with Turkey wounded at least five people, including two Turkish officials, when stray bullets hit a refugee camp in Turkey, officials said. The gun battles occurred just inside Syria near the Kilis refugee camp in Turkey's Kilis province located right along the Turkey-Syria border. Under a deal brokered by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, Syria is to begin withdrawing troops from around urban centers by Tuesday, paving the way for a truce to start 48 hours later. But the prospect of a ceasefire looked increasingly dim, with no let-up in violence around the country where forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad have battled to crush a popular revolt against his rule for more than a year. In a last-minute move, Assad has demanded written guarantees from opposition fighters that they put down their weapons, prompting Turkey's Deputy Foreign Minister Naci to say that the April 10 deadline was now effectively void. “April 10 has become void. After Kofi Annan's visit tomorrow (to Turkey) a new stage will start,” state-run broadcaster TRT quoted Koru as saying on its website. In Monday's clashes inside Syria near the Turkish border, rebels killed at least six members of the security forces and customs officials, according to the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It said the fighting took place in the village of Salama, between the Syrian town of Azaz and the Turkish town of Kilis. Eight rebel gunmen were wounded.
