Rebels claim to shoot down jet

The Free Syrian Army rebel group today said it shot down a Syrian military fighter jet in Idlib province (al-Arabiya), near the Turkish border, while claiming to have destroyed military helicopters and tanks by the Tiftiaz military airport in Aleppo. The apparent attack comes as Syrian security forces continue a deadly assault on rebel strongholds throughout the country. Meanwhile, foreign ministers of member countries of the UN Security Council (al-Jazeera) are set to meet today to discuss the worsening humanitarian situation in Syria after eighteen months of conflict. Not only is the international community divided over Syria, but even those countries most supportive of the rebellion have not settled on a common strategy, while the disarray among the Syrian opposition further deepens disquiet over intervention. Whether by design or luck--or the failures of the opposition--the Assad regime may well have created a situation in which it survives for quite some time, even if in considerably diminished form," writes TIME's Tony Karon. "Turkey has been one of the Assad regime's most vehement critics. As the number of refugees pouring across its borders has surged amid spiraling violence inside Syria--there are now more than 80,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey, according to the foreign ministry--the government in Ankara has pushed to make the refugee issue an international one," writes Newsweek's Mike Giglio. lict, though no new resolutions are expected.