Syria: Thousands still fleeing into Turkey

At least 4,300 people have now fled violence in Syria to seek refuge in Turkey, a senior Turkish official says.

A BBC correspondent on the border says the real number of displaced people is probably much higher.

The Syrians have mainly been fleeing the town of Jisr al-Shughour, targeted in a government crackdown.

An eyewitness described a tank attack on a nearby village on Friday morning, in which people were killed and crops destroyed.

Syria's government says its forces went into the town to restore order after the deaths of 120 security personnel.

Clashes throughout the country on Friday led to the deaths of at least 32 people.

Hundreds of people have been killed in a crackdown in recent weeks on anti-government protests, which began in March.

Meanwhile the US White House strongly condemned Syria's "outrageous use of violence" against the protesters and called for an "immediate end" to the violence.

'Not refugees'

The BBC's Owen Bennett Jones, in Guvecci on the Turkish-Syrian border, says the real number of displaced people is probably much higher than official total because many have slipped across the border unnoticed by the Turkish army.

Senior Foreign Ministry official Halit Cevik said Turkey would deal with the crisis as best it could.

"If they are coming, this is a humanitarian issue," he said. "We will do whatever is needed within our means."

He added that while Turkey could cope with the crisis at the moment, it might need international help if things got worse.

But Mr Cevik said that the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, would not be involved.

The Syrians involved were not seeking refuge in Turkey, he said, as their eventual aim was to go back home.