In Syria, shelling hits Homs neighborhoods as concern rises about border attacks with Turkey

In Syria today, protesters marched through the streets of Aleppo, Deraa, Damascus and other cities and towns.

In a video posted online by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a small group of children marched with other protesters in Idlib. The Observatory said at least 40 people were killed throughout the country today, including in the city of Homs, where residents reported shelling and assaults from tanks. One activist in Homs told Al Jazeera that he counted five rockets per minute in his neighborhood during the bombardment today.

Tensions around the ongoing conflict have risen in the past 48 hours after the Syrian regime killed five civilians across the border in Turkey’s city of Akcakale and Turkey returned fire. On Thursday, Turkey’s parliament authorized the use of force. In response, thousands protested in Istanbul and Ankara last night.

One protester, Nevzat Evrim Onal, told the Telegraph that US interests played a role in Turkey’s decision.

“We are going through an ugly provocation of war. The Turkish and Syrian people are not enemies. The government is trying to drag us into a war with Syria in compliance with US interests.”

Turkey is sheltering nearly 100,000 refugees from Syria.

On Thursday, the UN’s Security Council condemned the shelling of Akcakale. The Council’s President for October, Guatemalan Ambassador Gert Rosenthal, called for restraint.

“The members of the Security Council underscored that this incident highlighted the grave impact the crisis in Syria has on its neighbors and on regional peace and security. The members of the council demanded that such violations of international law stop immediately and are not repeated.”

So far UN resolutions and peace efforts have failed to stop the bloodshed.