Syrian rebels take control of the Iraq and Turkey border crossings

Syrian rebels took control of the border with Iraq and two key crossings into Turkey on Thursday night as government forces intensified their bombardment of Damascus in an attempt to avenge the deaths of three of the regime's key lieutenants.

President Bashar al-Assad – his hold on power more tenuous than ever before – made a brief appearance on state television to dispel speculation that he had been wounded or killed in the bomb attack that devastated his high command on Wednesday.

But even as the president was filmed administering the oath of office to Gen Fahad Jassem al-Freij, his new defence minister, Syria's rebels claimed to have seized a series of key border checkpoints with Turkey and an entire swathe of the country's frontier with Iraq.

It followed yet another diplomatic failure to put pressure on Assad, with Russia and China vetoing a new UN Security Council resolution that would have threatened his regime with tough sanctions. The West responded with outrage, William Hague accusing both states of "turning their back on the Syrian people in their darkest hour".

"I am appalled by the decision," the Foreign Secretary said shortly after Russia and China used their veto power at the UN for a third time in less than a year. "What is happening in Syria is a tragedy for its entire people and a threat to international peace and security. Addressing crises like these is exactly what the UN Security Council exists to do."

President Barack Obama's spokesman said: "There's no doubt that Syria's future will not include Bashar al-Assad. His days in power are numbered. It's a mistake to prop up that regime as it comes to an end." But with the Syrian capital's outlying suburbs and a growing number of its inner districts engulfed in heavy fighting, diplomacy appeared increasingly impotent last night.

Shortly after the UN vote, the Free Syrian Army claimed the capture of the customs and immigration buildings at Bab al-Hawa on the frontier with Turkey, after several attempts in the past 10 days.
Footage that activists said was filmed at Bab al-Hawa showed rebels climbing on to the roofs of buildings at the crossing and tearing up a poster of Mr Assad.
The raid was designed in part to provide opposition sympathisers among the government soldiers a safe passage to defect. Opposition activists also claimed that the Jarablus crossing had fallen into rebel hands. Iraq's deputy interior minister meanwhile, reported that Syrian rebels had taken control of all crossings on the 376-mile frontier.
The confidence of ordinary Syrians in Mr Assad's ability to survive the increasingly daring rebellion against his 12-year rule was visibly ebbing away.
An estimated 19,000 fled across the borders into Lebanon alone in the past two days, with thousands more fleeing to Iraq. Israel put its military on alert to stop refugees crossing into its territory.
The panic was most evident in Damascus as residents tried to escape the growing upheaval. Helicopter gunships and army tanks kept up a heavy bombardment to try to dislodge the rebels.
Opposition forces, reinforced by battalions drafted into the city from rebel strongholds elsewhere, appeared more entrenched than ever as they returned fire on the fifth day of their assault to liberate the capital.
As intense as the clashes were, there was a deep sense of foreboding in Damascus that worse was yet to come. Residents of Sunni suburbs where the rebels have gained a foothold were told via television announcements and loudhailers to leave their homes within 24 hours or face death.
In the west of Damascus, in Mezze and Kafr Sousseh, hundreds of residents could be seen fleeing in panic, activists said. Some southern suburbs were said to have been left virtually deserted.
Members of the loyalist Shabiha militia, drawn from Mr Assad's Alawite minority, were said to be prowling the streets, searching for Sunnis in order to avenge the bombing.
A number of people were said to have been stabbed to death and even decapitated. More than 250 people are said to have been killed since the assassinations were first reported on Wednesday morning, including at least 60 in the capital.
Despite Mr Assad's television appearance, rumours lingered that he had fled to the coastal city of Latakia in a part of the country dominated by fellow Alawites. Questions persisted over his ability to control his splintering armed forces. "We have been seeing a constant level of defections from the Syrian military over the past months and this has accelerated over the past couple of days," a Western security source said.
"Yesterday's events will have knocked the morale of the army. Some of the Syrian military units are down to 60 per cent capacity." Internet rumours that Mr Assad had sent his British wife Asma to Moscow appeared to lose credibility yesterday. Opposition officials said they had been told by regime intelligence contacts that she had been flown to the port of Tartous to prepare for funeral today of Asef Shawkat, the president's brother-in-law who was killed in Wednesday's blast.
The same aircraft also carried the president's mother Anisa and his only sister Bushra, Mr Shawkat's widow.