Gunmen killed at least 40 Syrian soldiers and government employees who were being sent back to Syria by Iraqi authorities after fleeing a rebel advance, Iraqi officials said.
Around 65 Syrian soldiers and officials had handed themselves over to Iraqi authorities on Friday after rebels seized the Syrian side of the border crossing at the Syrian frontier town of Yaarabiya.
Iraqi authorities were taking them to another border crossing further south in Iraq's Sunni Muslim stronghold, Anbar province, yesterday when unidentified gunmen ambushed their convoy.
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