Iraqi authorities said Thursday they would ‘start repatriating’ Syrian soldiers who fled the battlefronts in Syria two weeks ago after ‘coordinating work’ with Syria’s new rulers.

Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier General Miqdad Miri was quoted by AFP as saying that the relevant Iraqi authorities ‘will start repatriating Syrian soldiers on Thursday after coordination with the relevant Syrian authorities’ through the al-Qaim border crossing.

Iraqi army chief of staff Abdul Amir Rashid Yarallah said earlier that the Iraqi border was fully secured.