Turkiye said Friday it had urged Russia and Iran not to intervene militarily to support Bashar al-Assad's forces as Islamist-led rebels mounted their lightning advance on Damascus that ended with the Syrian strongman's ouster.

"The most important thing was to talk to the Russians and Iranians to ensure that they didn't enter the equation militarily. We had meetings with (them) and they understood," Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Turkiye's private NTV television.

He said if Moscow and Tehran, both key Assad allies since the start of the civil war in 2011, had come to the Syrian president's aid, the rebels could still have won but the outcome could have been far more violent.

"If Assad had received support, the opposition could have achieved victory with their determination, but it would have taken a long time and could have been bloody," he said.

Turkiye's aim was to "hold focused talks with the two important power players to ensure minimum loss of life," Fidan said.

They quickly realised the game was up, that Assad "was no longer someone to invest in" and "there was no point anymore", he added. 

At least 34 people, including two babies were killed when a contraband fuel depot exploded into flames in southern Benin near the border with Nigeria on Saturday.

According to Beninese Interior Minister Alassane Seidou, “a serious fire occurred in the town of Seme Podji. Another 20 people were seriously wounded in the incident.”

"I can't really give you the cause of the fire, but there is a large gasoline warehouse here and cars, tricycles and motorcycles come from morning to evening,” he added.

Nigeria is a main oil and gas producer where fuel smuggling is very common along its borders, particularly when the government maintains a subsidy to keep fuel prices low.

The majority of the victims were burnt and they could not be not be identified.

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