Syria Says Any Foreign Troops Would Return ‘in Coffins’

Syria’s foreign minister warned Saturday that Saudi or other foreign troops entering his country would “return home in wooden coffins” and asserted that recent military advances put his government “on track” to end the five-year-old civil war.

Members of the Syrian pro-government forces stand in a road in the town of Rabia in Syria's coastal Latakia Province on Jan. 27, 2016. STR/AFP/Getty Images

DAMASCUS, Syria—Syria’s foreign minister warned Saturday that Saudi or other foreign troops entering his country would “return home in wooden coffins” and asserted that recent military advances put his government “on track” to end the five-year-old civil war.

Walid al-Moallem’s comments capped a week that saw the collapse of the latest U.N-led Syria peace efforts and a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive near the city of Aleppo that sent thousands of residents fleeing toward Turkey.

A Turkish official said Saturday that as many as 35,000 Syrians had massed along the closed border.

Suleyman Tapsiz, governor of the border province of Kilis, said Turkey would send aid to the displaced, but had no immediate plans to let them in. He said Turkey was prepared to open the gates in the event of an “extraordinary crisis.”

Syrian pro-government forces adjust a man-portable anti-tank system (MANPAT) as they hold a position in the Hatabat al-Bab area, near town of Al-Bab in Aleppo's eastern countryside, on Jan. 24, 2016. George Ourfalian/AFP/Getty Images