Iraq starts sending Syrian soldiers back home, state media reports

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — A member from the Iraqi security forces stands guard during a patrol at the border between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, February 17, 2016. Picture taken February 17, 2016. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani

BAGHDAD (Reuters) -     Iraq started on Thursday to send Syrian soldiers of deposed former leader Bashar al-Assad's army back to their homeland, according to an Iraqi official body responsible for disseminating security information.

"The operation was carried out after coordination with the concerned Syrian authorities," Iraqi Security Media Cell added.

Around 2,000 Syrian troops took refuge across the border in Iraq during the advance of rebel forces that toppled Assad earlier this month.

The troops crossed the border into Iraq through Al-Qaim border town, the local mayor said on n Dec.7.

Syrian rebels led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, better known as Abu Mohammad al-Golani, who heads former al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), seized the capital Damascus unopposed on Dec.8 after a lightning advance that sent Assad fleeing to Russia.

 (Reporting by Muayad Kenany; Writing by Nayera Abdallah, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)