05/10/12

A Dar El Shifa hospital worker cleans the floor outside the hospital in Aleppo, Syria, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012. The border violence between Turkey and Syria has added a dangerous new dimension to Syria’s civil war, dragging Syria’s neighbors deeper into a conflict that activists say has already killed 30,000 people since an uprising against President Bashar Assad’s regime began in March 2011.(AP Photo/ Manu Brabo)

BEIRUT (AP) — A Turkish official says Syria has pulled tanks and other military equipment away from its border with Turkey following deadly cross-border shelling this week.

The Foreign Ministry official in Ankara said on Friday that the Syrian pullback was an effort to remove any “perception of threat.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations.

Syrian officials were not available for comment.

A Syrian shell struck a Turkish border town Wednesday and killed five civilians. Turkey retaliated with artillery strikes and warned Syria that it would not tolerate such a spillover again.

Syrian President Bashar Assad has tried to defuse the crisis with Turkey, the worst since an uprising against him erupted 18 months ago.