Assad forces retake one Iraqi border crossing

Iraqi security officials and state TV say the Syrian military has retaken control of a border crossing from rebel fighters who seized it a day earlier.

The officials say the rebels abandoned the border post Sunday near the Iraqi town of Rabiya before Syrian troops reclaimed it. All three officials spoke on condition of anonymity.

There were no reports of violence or clashes at the crossing, located about 520 kilometers (320 miles) northwest of Baghdad.

Iraqi state TV also reported that Rabiya was back in the hands of Syrian authorities.

Rabiya was the second border crossing with Iraq that Syrian rebels captured from government forces. The other, at the western Iraqi town of Qaim, remained in rebel hands as of Sunday afternoon.

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