More than 4,000 Syrians have fled to Turkey to escape a crackdown on protests against President Bashar al-Assad and thousands more are sheltering near the border.
Fearing revenge from security forces for clashes in which authorities said 120 troops were killed this week, the refugees streamed out of the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour ahead of a military operation launched by the army there on Friday.
The White House has accused the Syrian government of creating a humanitarian crisis and urged it to halt its crackdown on civilians and give the Red Cross immediate, unfettered access to the country's northern region.
'Syrian leaders have no excuse for denying humanitarian assistance by a neutral body like the ICRC,' the White House said.
'If Syria's leaders fail to provide this access, they will once again be showing contempt for the dignity of the Syrian people.'
Earlier, a senior Turkish diplomat said 4,300 Syrians had crossed the border and that Turkey was prepared for a further influx, though he declined to predict how many might come.
‘Turkey welcomed a great many number of guests in the past in their times of most dire need. We can do that again,’ Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Halit Cevik was quoted as saying by state-run Anatolian news agency.
Witnesses in the border province of Hatay said a tent hospital was being set up at the site of one of the refugee camps, and Radikal newspaper said Turkey would establish a buffer zone if migrant inflows from Syria exceed 10,000.
Just inside Syria, thousands more people are gathering close to the frontier, according to an activist helping coordinate the movement of refugees.
‘The border area has turned practically into a buffer zone,’ said the man, who identified himself only as Abu Fadi. ‘Families have taken shelter under the trees and there are 7,000 to 10,000 people here now.’
Human rights groups say security forces have killed more than 1,100 Syrian civilians in an increasingly bloody crackdown on demonstrations calling for Assad's removal, more political freedoms and end to corruption and poverty.
36 protestors were shot dead across Syria on Friday alone, activists said. Syrian authorities deployed helicopter gunships in the town of Maarat al-Numaan, they added, in the first known use of air power against unrest.
The government, which has blamed violence in the protest wave on ‘terrorists’, said the army had arrested two armed groups in Jisr al-Shughour after launching operations there in response to requests from residents. The state news agency SANA said they seized guns, explosives and detonators.
The US repeated its call for Syrian security forces to exercise restraint.
Washington said the government was leading Syria down a ‘dangerous path’ and called for ‘an immediate end to the brutality and violence’.
Helicopter gun-ships and tanks are reported to have been used during the advance on the town of Jisr al-Shughour.
The US statement contained a clear sign of growing US impatience over Syria after top officials had repeatedly called for President Bashar al-Assad to embrace reform or step aside - but stopped short of demanding his departure.
