Syria rebels 'control all Iraq border points'

AFP ^ | July 19, 2012

[Tailgunner Joe]

Syrian rebels took control of all border crossings between Iraq and Syria on Thursday, Baghdad's deputy interior minister told AFP.

"All the border points between Iraq and Syria are under the control of the Free Syrian Army," Adnan al-Assadi told AFP by telephone.

"The border points and all the outposts are under the control of the Free Syrian Army.

"The Syrian army are focusing on Damascus."

Assadi also said there was fighting under way between the Syrian army and rebels across the border from the northern Iraqi region of Sinjar.

The top official said Iraqi border guards had witnessed the Free Syrian Army take control of a border outpost, detain a Syrian army lieutenant colonel, and then cut off his arms and legs.

"Then they executed 22 Syrian soldiers in front of the eyes of Iraqi soldiers."

The account of the killings could not be independently verified.

Assadi added: "If this situation continues, we are going to close the entire border with Syria."

Earlier, an Iraqi border police lieutenant colonel told AFP that clashes began at noon at the Albu Kamal crossing in Anbar province."

"And then in the evening, we saw the Syrian flag being brought down and the flag of the Free Syrian Army replaced it," he told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"We saw people wearing dishdashas (traditional Arab robes) and holding guns and they were walking inside the border post. We closed the border and we sent more patrols and more checkpoints along all the border with Syria."

[Truth29]

"The top official said Iraqi border guards had witnessed the Free Syrian Army take control of a border outpost, detain a Syrian army lieutenant colonel, and then cut off his arms and legs.

"Then they executed 22 Syrian soldiers in front of the eyes of Iraqi soldiers." "

And if Assad uses WMDs, we will express shock and demand worldwide action. Assad is a bad actor. The Muslim Brotherhood is worse and Obama is trying to unify a Greater Caliphate that can move against Israel and the West.

[combat_boots]

You mean Hezbollah: Iran.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Tailgunner Joe. Run and Done topics:

• Syria on the Verge of Collapse
• Syrian Rebels Seize Control of Turkish, Iraqi Borders
• Syria's Chemical Weapons Came From Saddam's Iraq
• Halting Syrian Chaos
• Flash Points (Oliver North)
• Bashar's last days? - 'Rule by massacre' isn't working
• Report: Syrian Leader al-Assad Flees Damascus
• Is the murder of the Syrian strongmen the beginning of the end?
• Bomb kills Assad army chiefs; "decisive" Damascus battle
• Syrian defense minister killed in Damascus bomb blast
• Will Syria Use Chemical Weapons Against Israel?
• Champagne Flows While Syria Burns
• Syrian armed rebels take fight to government troops in Damascus
• Assad Will Use Chemical Weapons: Top Defector
• Clinton 'Outraged' by Syria Massacre, Urges UN Action
• Moving Syrian tank gets hit by an RPG
• Where Did Syria's Chemical Weapons Come From?
• [Lebanese Druze leader] Jumblatt urges countries to end support for Assad
• [Lebanese occupier] Nasrallah: Our missiles are Syrian
• 2012 Q3 FReepathon. Target: $85,000