Around 2,000 Syrian soldiers cross to Iraq

Around 2,000 Syrian army soldiers crossed to Iraq on Saturday, Turki al-Mahlawi, the mayor of Al-Qaim border town, told Reuters, Report informs via Alarabiya.

Earlier on Saturday, two Iraqi security sources told AFP said Iraq has allowed in hundreds of troops from the Syrian army, some of them wounded, amid a lightning offensive by armed opposition forces.

The soldiers “have fled the frontlines” and entered Iraq through the Al-Qaim border crossing, said one senior security official, adding that “the wounded have been hospitalized” in the area.