Turkey renews strikes on Syria Good morning. Here is a summary of the latest developments. Turkish artillery hit targets inside Syria on Wednesday after a mortar bomb fired from Syrian territory killed five Turkish civilians, in the most serious cross-border escalation since the uprising in Syria began, Reuters reports. Turkey hit back at what it called "the last straw" when a mortar hit a residential neighbourhood of the southern border town of Akcakale. There were no immediate details of the Turkish strikes against Syria, nor was it clear who had fired the mortar into Turkish territory, but security sources said Turkey was increasing the number of troops along its border. The Turkish government is seeking parliamentary approval for military operation outside its borders. Syria said it was investigating the source of the mortar bomb, offered condolence to Turkey and urged restraint. Information minister Omran Zoabi told Syrian TV: "In case of border incidents that occur between any two neighbouring countries, countries and governments must act wisely, rationally and responsibly, particularly since there's a special condition on the Syrian-Turkish borders in terms of the presence of undisciplined terrorist groups spread across the borders who have varying agendas and identities." Nato ambassadors met in emergency session in Brussels on Wednesday to ponder their limited options over the escalating Syrian conflict after the cross-border. The US is trying to direct more non-lethal aid to rebels in Aleppo and other contested areas, according to a memo by US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, published by Foreign Policy's The Cable blog. It quotes the memo as saying: Expanded non-lethal support will build on existing networks to increase support to groups with which we have established relationships and to help assistance reach new opposition groups in strategic parts of Syria like Aleppo province and the contested northeast. Specifically, our additional assistance will enable these groups to more effectively communicate and disseminate information, provide basic services to local Syrians, and to be in a position to effectively participate in a political transition. An Islamist militant group, Al Nusra Front, has claimed responsibility for coordinated suicide bombings in Aleppo that killed 48 people, Reuters reports citing the Site monitoring group. At least two car bombs exploded on Wednesday in the main Saadallah al-Jabiri Square and another bomb exploded a few hundred metres away, state media said. Both the rebels and the government would rather destroy Syria's main cities than allow their opponents to gain control, according to a grim blogpost by Syria watcher Joshua Landis. Aleppo and Damascus are the two geese that lay Syria's golden eggs. The revolutionaries must take them from the regime. The problem is that the regime cannot allow the opposition to have them alive. It will have to kill the golden geese rather than give them up to the enemy. Both sides will grind Syria's two commercial and political capitals into dust rather then permit the other side to own them and harvest their golden eggs Military defections to the opposition have slowed to a trickle as members of Free Syrian Army resort to ever more desperate measures to gain more recruits, the New York Times reports. It said: Some rebel commanders now fret that all the soldiers who were inclined to defect already have. The rest remain loyal to the government, or are terrified of betraying it. Others are just suspicious of an armed movement that has found extremists among its ranks. Hundreds of demonstrators in the Iranian capital clashed with riot police on Wednesday, during protests against the crisis over the country's currency. Police used batons and teargas to try to disperse the crowds. "Mahmoud [Ahmadinejad] the traitor ... leave politics," shouted some protesters, according to witnesses who spoke to the Guardian. Other slogans were "Leave Syria alone, instead think of us," said opposition website Kaleme.com. The Obama administration's planned retaliation against the attacks on the US consulate in Benghazi have all the worst hallmarks of Obama's foreign policy: secrecy, disregard for justice, and a self-perpetuating militarism, argues Glenn Greenwald. He writes: "Obama's ongoing use of military force in multiple countries ensures that the posture of the US for the foreseeable future will continue to be one of endless war."