Baghdad: Sunni militants have seized an Iraqi crossing on the border with Syria after a daylong battle in which they killed some 30 Iraqi troops, security officials said on Saturday, reports AP.
The capture of the Qaim border crossing deals a further blow to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government, which has struggled to push back against Islamic extremists and allied militants who have seized large swaths of the country, including the second largest city Mosul, and who have vowed to march on Baghdad. Police and army officials said the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and allied militants seized the crossing near the border town of Qaim, about 320 kilometres west of Baghdad, after battling Iraqi troops all day on Friday. The officials said people were now crossing back and forth freely.
