Iraq urges its citizens to leave Syria

The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign affairs urged its citizens in Syria to leave immediately and return home.

This comes after the Iraqi authorities received from the Syrian authorities Tuesday the bodies of 21 Iraqis at a border area in the country’s western province of Anbar, a provincial security source said.

“The Syrian security authorities handed over the Iraqi side the bodies of 21 Iraqis at al-Waleed border point near the city of al- Qaim, some 330 km west of Baghdad” the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The victims apparently were killed by gunfire and shelling on the cities of Homs, Aleppo and other areas near Damascus, the source added.

Earlier in the day, a police source reportedly said that the Iraqi authorities received bodies of two journalists, Ali Juburi al-Kaabi and Falah Taha, who were killed on Saturday during clashes between the Syrian government forces and the opposition militants in Jaramana suburb in Damascus.

Xinhua-ANI