Syrian crisis may spill over: UN chief

United Nations: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said he is alarmed by the escalating tensions along the Syrian-Turkish border and warned that the Syrian crisis may spill over into neighbouring countries. “As the situation inside Syria deteriorates yet further — including the atrocious terrorist bombings in Aleppo this week which killed dozens of people including civilians— the risks of regional conflict and the threat to international peace and security are also increasing,” Ban was quoted as saying by Xinhua. [caption id=“attachment_480452” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AP[/caption] At least five people were killed and 13 wounded by artillery shells fired from Syria which fell in Turkey’s southeastern Sanliurfa province Wednesday. In response, Turkey attacked targets in Syria and the retaliatory strikes continued through Thursday. Turkey has demanded that the UN Security Council and NATO take action against Damascus after Wednesday’s attack, which has also drawn sharp criticism from the West. In an emergency session held Thursday, the Turkish parliament approved a motion for cross-border military operation inside Syria. Ban said the Joint Special Representative for Syria of the UN and the League of Arab States, Lakhdar Brahimi, has been in communication with officials from both Turkey and Syria in order to encourage an easing of tensions. The UN chief further called on “all concerned to abandon the use of violence, exercise maximum restraint and exert all efforts to move toward a political solution”. IANS