Bloody day in Syrian conflict Hopes for a UN backed ceasefire in Syria appear to be fading fast with a stepping up of army bombardments just 24 hours before a cessation of hostilities is due to take effect. Around 30 people were killed when artillery pounded towns in the centre of the country, whilst, for the first time, Syrian troops fired across the borders of Turkey and Lebanon. Two Syrian refugees and a Turkish translator were wounded by gunfire from Syria at a refugee camp in Turkish territory, Turkish officials said, drawing an angry response from the Ankara government. Meanwhile, A cameraman and his colleague were killed inside Lebanon by cross-border shooting. President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday said his foes must give written guarantees they would stop fighting and lay down their arms - a demand they immediately rejected. Likewise, Syrian army forces show no sign of any retreat from urban areas as the ceasefire requires. Middle East specialist Augustus Richard Norton of Boston University was not surprised by the latest turn of events. The Syrian regime does not understand compromise. Its ethos is 'rule or die," he told Reuters in Beirut. Therefore, Syria will continue its inexorable slide into full-scale civil war, especially since the chance for effective foreign intervention to stop the bloodletting is also zero. Over 9,000 civilians are now believed to have died in the conflict, whilst the state claims 3,000 security personnel have also perished.