Syrian rebels seize border crossing point with Iraq

The Syrian opposition forces have taken control of a border crossing point with Iraq's northern Nineveh province, an Iraqi security source told Xinhua on Saturday. "Fighters from the Syrian opposition raised the flag of the Syrian Free Army on the government buildings on the Syrian side of al-Yaroubiyah border crossing point after fierce clashes with the Syrian army," a security source at the Iraqi town of Rabiea, close to the border crossing, said on condition of anonymity. The Iraqi army at the border point allowed receiving a wounded Syrian army officer and a number of wounded soldiers for treatment inside Iraq for humanitarian reasons, the source said. However, conflicting information came out earlier in the day from Syrian media outlets that the Syrian army had already wrested back control over the border crossing in less than 24 hours after fighters from al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and other radical groups stormed it on Friday. Previously, the border crossing was under the control of the rebel groups in July last year before the government army recaptured it. Iraq has an around 600 km borderline with Syria. The border crossings had witnessed closure in history when crises intensified on either side.