Clashes between Syrian army and rebels hit Turkey

Important clashes between the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian troops have taken place at the Tel Abyad border close to Turkey. A Turkish official said that houses in the Turkish town of Akcakale were hit by bullets. An official source said that the rebels were trying to gain control over the Tel Abyad border. The Free Syrian Army claim that have succeeded in this task. Clashes erupted in Bustan al-Qasr in the southwest and in nearby Izaa as both districts were shelled, residents in Syria's second city said, also reporting fighting further south in Sukari. The Syrian Army have also shelled districts in Aleppo on Tuesday. Earlier on Tuesday, UN officials revealed that serious human right violations have taken place on both sides in Syria. Iran has called for a simultaneous halt to the violence and a peaceful solution to the conflict. Overnight, shelling killed two civilians in the rebel-held Sakhur neighbourhood in the northeast, while nearby Hanano was also bombed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Syrian forces said they had secured the flashpoint Midan district on Monday after a week of fighting, although an AFP correspondent said some parts were still unsafe for residents to return. Pro-regime newspaper Al-Watan said the army had "cleansed" Midan, which "opens the door" to nearby neighbourhoods, including Bustan al-Basha, Suleiman al-Halabi and Sakhur. But the two-month-old battle for Aleppo was very fluid, with both sides claiming gains in a guerrilla war, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said. Outside Aleppo, two civilians were killed in shelling on the town of Al-Bab and the town of Safira was also reportedly bombed, according to the watchdog. In Damascus, at least four soldiers and one rebel were killed, as the army tried to push into the southern districts of Al-Hajar Al-Aswad, Qadam and Assali, and three civilians were killed by shelling, the Observatory said. Troops also bombed areas in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, where 10 civilians were killed, the northwestern province of Idlib and the central province of Homs, where a rebel was killed in fighting, the monitor added. The Britain-based group says more than 27,000 people have been killed since the uprising erupted in March 2011. The United Nations puts the toll at more than 20,000.