Syrian forces push towards second northern town

Syrian troops using tanks and helicopters pushed towards a northern town on Tuesday after arresting hundreds of people in villages near Jisr al-Shughour, residents said, as more refugees fled to Turkey. More than 8,500 Syrians have sought shelter across the border to escape President Bashar al-Assad's latest military drive to crush protests demanding political change in a country ruled by the Assad dynasty for the last 41 years. Thousands more people are living rough just inside Syria.
Dozens of refugees with mud covering their boots and clothes clambered to a Turkish village to find bread for families waiting across the border in Syria in sodden make-shift camps. Reuters footage showed refugees on the Syrian side of the border trying to dry rain-sodden blankets, children washing in buckets of rain water, and people lying under plastic sheets.
"We are desperate here. We are under the rain, our children are sick. We have no medicine and no food," said a crying woman with a baby lying next to her. Most of the refugees came from Jisr al-Shughour, 20 km (12 miles) from the border, where authorities say 120 security personnel were killed by gunmen 10 days ago. Some activists say deserting troops and residents clashed with security forces.
The army retook the rebellious town on Sunday and appeared to be moving towards the town of Maarat al-Numaan, which straddles the main north-south highway linking Damascus with the second city of Aleppo and has also been the scene of protests. The government says the three-month-old protests are part of a conspiracy backed by foreign powers to sow sectarian strife. Syria has banned most foreign correspondents, making it difficult to verify accounts of events.
Turkey has set up four refugee camps just inside its borders and the state-run Anatolian news agency said on Tuesday authorities might provide more. It said the number of refugees had reached 8,538, more than half of them children. Anatolian also reported that Assad phoned Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to congratulate him on his election victory two days ago. It said the Turkish leader told Assad to avoid using violence against his people and to launch reforms as soon as possible.
Erdogan, who has had a close rapport with Assad, had said before being re-elected that once the election was over he would be talking to Assad in a "very different manner". Syrian rights groups say 1,300 civilians have been killed since the start of the uprising in March. One group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says more than 300 soldiers and police have also been killed.
Assad, who inherited power when his father died in 2000, has offered some concessions aimed at appeasing protesters, lifting a 48-year state of emergency and promising a national dialogue, but many activists have dismissed those steps. France, with British support, has led efforts for the United Nations Security Council to condemn Assad's repression of the protests but Russia and China have suggested they might use their veto power to kill the resolution.