Special to WorldTribune.com

BAGHDAD — Iraq has confirmed it is providing medical treatment for forces loyal
to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Officials said the government of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki has
arranged for injured Syrian Army and security forces troops to be treated in
Iraq. They said the arrangement began amid heavy casualties by
Assad forces in northern Syria.

“This is part of normal cooperation between two friendly neighbors,” an
official said.

The Iraqi Defense Ministry has confirmed the medical treatment of
Assad’s soldiers. The ministry said the Syrian military personnel were being treated at facilities in Iraq’s Anbar province near the border.

On March 4, suspected Syrian rebels attacked a convoy of Syrian soldiers in Anbar as they were returning from medical treatment in Iraq. Officials said 48 Syrian soldiers and nine Iraqi soldiers were killed.

“Military detachments succeeded in annihilating an entire column of the
Safavid [Shi’ite] army,” the Al Qaida-sponsored Islamic State of Iraq said on March 11.

Officials said Iraq was also hosting Syrian troops who fled Sunni rebels
in northern Syrian provinces. They said Al Qaida was believed to be tracking the movement of Assad soldiers in Iraq, particularly in the provinces of Anbar and Salah Eddin.

The Iraqi Defense Ministry said Syrian rebels have infiltrated Anbar and
other areas of Iraq. The ministry said the rebels were believed to stem from
the Free Syrian Army, which maintained cooperation with Sunni militias in
Anbar.

Officials said the Syrian Air Force has been pursuing Sunni rebels into
Iraq. They said Syrian fighter-jets were flying through Iraqi air space to
bomb rebel strongholds in the border area.

For its part, the rebels said the Iraqi military has also been recruited
into supporting Assad combat operations. The rebels said Iraq Air Force jets
strafed suspected rebel positions in Yarobiya in March.

  Anbar province, Bashar Assad, Free Syrian Army, Iraq providing medical treatment to Syrian soldiers, Nouri Al Maliki