Syria vows to 'crush' rebels

BEIRUT: Syria's military will "crush" armed rebels, President Bashar Assad's defence minister warned Saturday, as the regime shelled rebel positions in two cities and near the Lebanese border in a widening offensive.

Neighbouring Turkey, meanwhile, set new rules of engagement after three shells from Syria hit Turkish territory Saturday. Turkey retaliated with artillery, as it has for the past four days, and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said this would now be the standard response.

Davutoglu insisted that "we haven't taken a step toward war," but Turkey's threat to fire back for each errant Syrian shell was bound to keep border tensions high. Turkey is one of Assad's harshest critics and a key supporter of Syria's opposition.

The latest Syria-Turkey crisis erupted earlier this week, after a Syrian shell killed five civilians in a Turkish border town.

The Syrian regime has apologized and tried to defuse tensions by pulling some tanks back from the border, according to a Turkish Foreign Ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations.

Still, the week's daily cross-border exchanges have heightened fears of a regional conflagration.

Syrian mortar rounds are likely to hit Turkey again as regime forces try to retake rebel-controlled areas near the border. Two of the shells that fell in Turkey on Saturday were fired in clashes between government troops and opposition fighters in a Syrian border village.

Syria's civil war has been stalemated for months, but Syrian Defence Minister Gen. Fahd Jassem al-Freij insisted Saturday that the regime is gaining the upper hand.

The government denies it is facing a home-grown rebellion, saying it is being targeted by a foreign conspiracy against the regime's support for anti-Israeli groups.