SYRIA, — The Syrian army entered the besieged town of Jisr al-Shughour on Friday as pro-democracy demonstrations across the country were met with gunfire, leaving more than 20 dead, the opposition groups reported.
Over 3000 refuges are reported to have flooded across the border into Turkey to escape the fighting. Most have walked over rolling hills from the northern town that has been menaced all week by Syrian tanks and troops, who finally entered Jisr al-Shughour just after daybreak.
Those who had reached Turkey were unable to contact relatives that had stayed behind, with all lines to the town cut. Anecdotal reports suggested Jisr al-Shughour has been largely abandoned.
Some of the refugees who found shelter in Turkey said that among the armed men opening fire on the protesters there were Iranian personnel, believing to be members of Iranian Revolution Guards Corps.
“Some of the armed men were not speaking Arabic, they were Iranian and they directed faced the demonstrators and shot several”, an injured man said while lying on the ground.
Iran has had a direct role in suppressing the pro-democracy protests in Syrian which is one of its major allies in the region. As many analysts and political observers believe, if Assad is toppled, Ahamdinejad is doomed to topple.