Another Syrian brigadier general has crossed the border into Turkey to join the ranks of opposition fighters, bringing the total number of rebel generals in Turkey to 29, a diplomat said Friday.

The general was accompanied by his family, he told Agence France Presse.

Turkey's army has begun staging drills at the Syrian border following warnings that it would follow Kurdish rebels across the frontier, the Anatolia news agency reported Friday.

Turkish tanks accompanied by armored personnel carriers and surface-to-air missile defenses are deployed at the Oncupinar crossing in southeastern Kilis province for the drills, the report said, adding that they would continue periodically.

Turkey's military on Thursday staged a military drill on its southeastern border near Syria, just a day after a tank exercise in another border region, the Anatolia news agency reported.

The military tested the speed and maneuverability of the tanks, armored personnel carriers and missile launching platforms deployed in the Mursitpinar region of Sanliurfa province, along the Turkish frontier, said Anatolia.

Turkey's military on Wednesday tested its tanks' speed and maneuverability during an exercise in Turkey's southeastern border near Syria, reported the Anatolia news agency.

The exercise comes after Turkey sent a convoy of tanks, weapons and ground-to-air missile batteries to the border with Syria, strengthening its defenses there as intensified on the other side of the border.

Abbas Shoaib, one of the 11 abducted Lebanese Shiite pilgrims in Syria, has managed to escape from his captors for a few hours before being recaptured, LBCI television reported on Monday.

“On Wednesday evening, one of the relatives of the hostages received an SMS from a Syrian mobile phone number in which the sender identified himself as Abbas Shoaib,” the TV network said.

Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi will visit Turkey this week, energy ministry sources told Agence France Presse Monday, amid a Turkish cutback on its oil purchases from Iran under Western pressure.

Qasemi is expected to arrive in Ankara to hold talks with Turkish officials, the ministry source said on condition of anonymity, without elaborating on the details of the visit.

Syria's rebels distributed on Monday a "national salvation draft" proposal for a political transition in the country, bringing together military and civilian figures for a post-Bashar Assad phase.

The draft by the joint command of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) proposes the establishment of a higher defense council charged with creating a presidential council, which in turn would bring together a total of six military and civilian figures to lead a future transition.

Another brigadier general has defected from Syria's army to join the ranks of opposition fighters, pushing the total number of rebel generals based in Turkey to 28, a diplomatic source said Monday.

The general was accompanied by 11 other officers, the source added on condition of anonymity.

Turkey has sent a convoy of tanks, weapons and ground-to-air missile batteries to the border with Syria, adding to its already fortified defenses around the frontier, Anatolia reported Monday.

A convoy of armored combat vehicles, troops, ammunition and missile systems left southeastern city of Gaziantep to be deployed in Kilis city along the border with Syria, Anatolia said.

Syrian troops on Sunday killed two men as they tried to cross the border into neighboring Jordan, a local official said, as Syria’s state news agency said border guards killed a large number of "terrorists" who attempted to cross into Syria from Turkey.

"At least two men were shot dead by the Syrian army early this morning when they tried to cross the border into the kingdom, along with hundreds of Syrians," Zayed Hammad, head of the Ketab and Sunna Society, which provides aid to more than 50,000 Syrian refugees, told Agence France Presse.