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Syrian general, soldiers defect

A Syrian general was among the latest defectors from the Syrian military, officials said on Monday, after dozens of Syrian soldiers fled overnight to Turkey, crossing the border with their families.

The general defected in recent days, Turkish officials said. According to the state-run Anadolu news agency, 33 soldiers crossed the border on Sunday night, including a general and two colonels.

Meanwhile, Turkey said on Monday that Syrian forces had fired at a second Turkish plane which was searching for an F-4 reconnaissance jet shot down by Syria last week, but the second plane was not brought down.

Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told a news conference that Turkey would protect itself, within the framework of international law, against what it called Syria’s “hostile action” of downing its warplane last week. He said at the end of a seven-hour cabinet meeting on the incident that Syria’s downing of the reconnaissance jet would “not go unpunished”.

Violence killed 13 people across Syria on Monday, as the army pounded towns and cities in an attempt to regain control of territory lost to rebels, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

At least 11 of the dead were civilians with the highest number of killed in the northwestern province of Idlib, where fierce clashes were underway between rebels and troops, the Britain-based Observatory said.

Two civilians and a rebel fighter were killed in the fighting that raged in the Idlib town of Kafr Al Nabel.

Three other civilians and a rebel died in Maaret Al Numan as troops pounded the town with mortar shells and rained gunfire on it in a bid to overrun the armed insurgents, the Observatory said.

Thousands of soldiers have abandoned the Syrian regime, but most are low-level conscripts. The rebel Free Syrian Army — which is based in Turkey — is made up largely of defectors.

Anadolu said a total of 224 people crossed into Turkey on Sunday night, the latest blow to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s regime.

The officer who defected separately in the last few days was a brigadier general, Turkish officials said. In January, a brigadier general appeared in Turkey, the highest ranking officer to defect up to that point.

Activists say more than 14,000 people have been killed since the uprising began in March 2011, and the death toll mounts every day.

There are widespread fears that the conflict could spark regional unrest — and those fears mounted on Friday when Syrian forces shot a Turkish military plane out of the sky.

Syria insists that the Turkish plane violated its air space. But Turkey disagrees, saying that though the plane had unintentionally strayed into Syria’s air space, it was inside international airspace when it was brought down.

In recent days, both sides appeared to be trying to calm tensions over the incident.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday his country has “no hostility” towards Turkey.

“We behaved in a defensive and sovereign way,” Jihad Makdissi said in the Syrian capital. He said the search was still under way for two missing Turkish airmen who were on the plane.

Ankara has called a meeting of Nato’s governing body on Tuesday to discuss the incident. Allies can request such consultations if they feel their territorial integrity or security are threatened.

Turkey’s Energy Minister, Taner Yildiz, meanwhile, suggested Turkey will cut electricity supplies to Syria. Turkish companies provide Syria with around 10 per cent of Syria’s annual power consumption. Yildiz said a decision on the issue could be announced on Tuesday.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to address legislators in parliament on Tuesday and reveal what measures Turkey will take against Damascus for downing down the plane.

Also on Monday, the Red Cross said hundreds of civilians are trapped in the Syrian city of Homs and aid workers cannot reach them because of the fighting. Homs has been one of the hardest-hit areas in Syria as regime forces try to crush the opposition.

The defectors who crossed into Turkey on Sunday night were brought to a refugee camp in Hatay, a province bordering Syria. Turkey is host to some 33,000 Syrians who are seeking refuge from the violence.