3,500 Syrians fled to Turkey over the last three days

Roughly 200 refugees from Syria's Idlib region who had been sheltering in a refugee camp in Hatay province in neighboring Turkey returned to Syria on Saturday to bury their dead.

Seven minibuses filled with Syrian refugees left the Reyhanli Camp on Saturday bound for the Turkish-Syrian border."We say to Bashar Al Assad: we are not going because we feel there is peace, because it is safe or secure, that we feel it. Or because your regime has pulled back the army. We are going back to bury our martyrs," said one of the refugees, Mazin Said Ali, as he prepared to leave.

An offensive in Idlib over the past few days triggered a large wave of refugees who crossed the border to Turkey with horrific accounts of mass graves, massacres and burned-out homes.

Activists have reported about 100 dead in the villages of Taftanaz and Killi, both in Idlib, in recent days.Roughly 3,500 Syrians fled to Turkey over the last three days. Most were transported to refugee camps in nearby provinces.Many have witnessed violent attacks on their villages."With helicopters they flew overhead. They started shooting. The mosque was half way destroyed already then they hit it again to destroy it completely," said Firas El Berhu, a refugee from Taftanaz who entered Turkey on Thursday night.

According to the Turkish Prime Ministry's website as of April 6, 2012 the number of refugees in Turkey is 23,778.Sources from the foreign ministry said roughly 800 refugees entered Turkey on Friday night.

AP