23/09/12

(CNN) — The chaos in Syria has once again spilled across borders, with mortars striking villages in southern Turkey.

Clashes between the Syrian regime and rebels have raged for days near the Tal Abyad border gate, which rebels seized last week to the glee of Turkish supporters.

But ongoing battles in the city of Tal Abyad have resulted in mortars hitting villages in the Turkish town of Akcakale, the town’s mayor said, according to Turkey’s Anadolu Agency. It was unclear whether there were any casualties.

“We wish the war will end soon in our neighbor Syria,” Akcakale Mayor Abdulhakim Ayhan told Anadolu.

But inside Syria, the civil war raged on Sunday with no end in sight. Here are other developments in Syria’s 18-month bloody crisis:

On the ground: Signs and fears of new violence nationwide

Large military reinforcements, including 30 armored vehicles, headed to the hotly contested northern city of Tal Abyad, opposition activists said Sunday.

Rebels have been trying to take control of border crossings to secure a haven near Turkey, a country sympathetic to the Syrian opposition movement. But fighting in the border area show no sign of letting up.

Meanwhile, barrels of TNT fell in the western province of Latakia, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.

Dissidents have reported an increased use of “barrel bombs” by the Syrian regime in recent weeks. Barrel bombs, often dropped by regime aircraft, are filled with TNT, nails and fuel to try to maximize damage, opposition activists say.

Across the country, at least 25 people were killed on Sunday, the LCC said, including nine in Daraa province and six in Aleppo province

The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency, meanwhile, said the army killed a “large number of terrorists” in Aleppo — the country’s largest city and a key battleground between regime and rebel fighters.

Armed forces “cleared” the area of a restaurant that “terrorists” had been using the as a center of operation, SANA said.

Throughout the Syrian conflict, the government has blamed “armed terrorist groups” for fueling violence in the country.