KARBEYAZ KOYU: Some 120 Syrian refugees fleeing repression, mostly women and children, have arrived in Turkey where they were looked after by police, an AFP journalist witnessed.
The group of 122 people mostly from the northwest Syrian town of Jisr al-Shughur crossed the border illegally and arrived late Tuesday in the village of Karbeyaz Koyu in Turkey's southern Hatay province, villagers told AFP.
Police set up a security perimeter around the refugees, put up in the village hall, and carried out identification procedures before taking them to a refugee camp set up by the Red Crescent at Yayladag, 45 kilometres (30 miles) to the west.
None of the refugees was injured.
Villagers said a previous group of 45 Syrians had passed through the village on Saturday before reaching Yayladag camp.
Turkey and Syria share an 800-kilometre (500-mile) border.
Syrian dissidents had warned on Tuesday of a harsh backlash as troops headed for Jisr al-Shughur after the authorities said 120 policemen had been massacred there by "armed gangs."
The Syrian Revolution 2011, a Facebook group spurring anti-regime protests, appealed to the army to protect civilians against regime agents.
"Thirteen military vehicles are heading to Jisr al-Shughur," where the alleged massacre took place and which has been the focus of military operations since Saturday, an activist in the town told AFP by telephone.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011
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