Iraq takes in hundreds of fleeing Syrian troops, say security sources

BAGHDAD – Iraq has allowed in hundreds of troops from the Syrian army, some of them wounded, amid a lightning offensive by Islamist-led rebels, two Iraqi security sources told AFP on Saturday.

The soldiers from President Bashar Al-Assad’s forces “have fled the front lines” and entered Iraq through the Al-Qaim border crossing, said one senior security official, adding that “the wounded have been hospitalised” in the area.

A second source gave a figure of 2,000 soldiers, including officers, who entered Iraq with the authorities’ permission.

Developing…