Syria witness: 'Arms and legs missing'

A Syrian airstrike targeted a town near the Turkish border, witnesses say Warplanes targeted a three-story building where rebels were holed up, they say NATO is considering Turkey's request for Patriot missiles, an official says NATO is widely expected to sign off on Turkey's request (CNN) -- Syrian warplanes bombed a town within sight of the Turkish border Monday, sending panicked civilians running to the fence that separates the two countries, witnesses told CNN. The attack came as NATO ministers considered whether to send missiles to Turkey should the civil war spill across its border. The bombing is the latest in a series of airstrikes across Syria launched by President Bashar al-Assad's forces in an attempt to drive back rebel advances in a number of locations, including in and around the capital city of Damascus, according to opposition activists. Thick, black smoke rose from the border town of Ras An Ail, where witnesses said warplanes dropped two bombs. One appeared to strike at three-story building "that the opposition forces were staying in," said neighborhood mayor Mehmet Saitavci. Terror on Syria's front lines Assad shuts down Internet in Syria Children fight for food in Aleppo It was not immediately known how many people were killed or wounded in the airstrike. But Saitavci said the wounded were making their way to the border where they were then picked up by ambulances. "There are people with arms and legs missing coming across," he said. The airstrike on Ras An Ail followed weekend claims by the opposition that Syrian warplanes pounded rebel strongholds on the outskirts of Damascus, where rebels were waging a pitched battle for control of the main road leading to Syria's largest commercial airport. The airport was shuttered for three days because of fierce fighting. Egypt Air announced it would resume flights Monday after government forces appeared to retake the area, though opposition activists said firefights were still under way. The airstrikes signal a sharp escalation in the fighting by forces loyal to al-Assad and rebels seeking his ouster, raising concerns among Syria's neighbors that the 21-month-old civil war could spill across the borders. Neighboring countries have reported deadly border skirmishes with either Syrian forces or rebels. In June, Syrian anti-aircraft defenses shot down a Turkish military reconnaissance jet, killing two pilots, after it briefly crossed into Syrian airspace in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Months later, errant Syrian artillery shells hit the border town of Akcakale, killing five Turkish civilians. As a result, Turkey has asked NATO for Patriot missiles to bolster its air defenses. NATO is widely expected to sign off on Turkey's request during a two-day summit that began Monday in Brussels. "This is a NATO ally. We've said from the start that we have strong commitment to NATO allies when they feel threatened, and so we would like to be able to be responsive in a positive way to the request that Turkey made to bolster its air defenses," a U.S. senior State Department official told reporters traveling with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the summit in Belgium. But even if NATO gives the go ahead as expected, it would be at least several weeks before the missiles could be deployed, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as a matter of practice. Aleppo power out, rubble everywhere Syria's Internet blackout Syrian crisis nearing end game? The United States, Germany and the Netherlands, which all have Patriot capabilities, have signaled they may be willing to contribute missiles should NATO approve the deployment to Turkey. The anticipated decision by NATO also comes as U.S. intelligence officials say there are "worrying signs" in recent days about Syria's intent with its vast chemical weapons stockpiles "There are concerns the regime may be considering use of chemical weapons" one intelligence official told CNN on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject matter. "This isn't just about movement, but about potential intent to make certain chemical weapons ready for use." The official said it is not entirely clear to the United States what the Syrian government is up to, or if this latest development was ordered specifically by al-Assad. The official declined to specify the exact intelligence that the United States has gathered in recent days. Syria is known to store its chemical stockpile, in many instances, separately from the artillery shells, rockets or missiles that would deliver those chemical weapons in an attack. As rebels make some gains, capturing military weapons as well as bases, U.S. and Middle Eastern intelligence services have been watching for some months for any sign the Syrians would be loading up those weapons with chemical agents. President Barack Obama has warned that any use of chemical weapons by Syria in its civil war would be crossing a "red line" that would prompt a swift U.S. response. Clinton warned Syrian on Monday not to test the U.S. response. "We have made our views very clear. This is a red line for the U.S.," she said, adding that the United States would not "telegraph" what steps it would take if there was credible evidence but "suffice to say we are certainly planning to take action if it were to occur." CNN's Arwa Damon in northern Syria, Ivan Watson and Gul Tuysuz in Istanbul, Barbara Starr in Washington and Jill Doughtery in Prague, Czech Republic, contributed to this report.