Beirut --
After hours of heavy shelling, Syrian troops recaptured a border town Thursday in what activists said was a government attempt to stem the flood of people fleeing their country's civil war.
Syrian rebels had been in control of Tel Chehab, along the Jordanian border, for months despite repeated assaults by pro-government troops, local activist Mohammed Abu Houran said.
In the latest clashes, hundreds of Syrian soldiers backed by 20 tanks assaulted Tel Chehab, according to Abu Houran and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Rebels fought back but were pushed out, activists said.
The activists did not have casualty figures. Abu Houran said at least 2,000 refugees were waiting in the town for the chance to cross the border. Most of them were staying in two schools.
Syria's state-run news agency, SANA, said troops arrested "several terrorists" in Tel Chehab and confiscated large amounts of explosives, including C4. Other explosives were also dismantled, it reported, without giving further details.
Abu Houran said the regime apparently was trying to cut the route for refugees who have been fleeing the civil war in increasing numbers. More than 100,000 Syrians left in August alone, the highest monthly total in the past 18 months, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said.
More than 160,000 Syrian refugees now live in Jordan, and that number is increasing by the thousands every day. Activists say nearly 5,000 people were killed in August, the highest monthly total since the crisis began in March 2011, and 23,000 have died altogether.
Source: http://feeds.sfgate.com/click.phdo?i=17da92aff9a2d4a9a7ec89daa1f0dbd3
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