[AP] The Defense Department's quarterly report on progress in Iraq, released Tuesday, said that as much as 90% of the foreign fighters in Iraq cross the border from Syria. "It is not clear that Syria has made a strategic decision to deal with foreign terrorists using Syria as a transit point into Iraq," said the report, which covers events from December through February. In January, Iraqi officials suggested that about 150 foreign and Iraqi fighters slipped into the country from Syria a few months earlier and were responsible for a devastating explosion in northern Iraq that killed 38 people and wounded 200. On the other border, meanwhile, Tehran's support for Shiite militant groups remains a sizable threat to stability in Iraq. The report asserts that the Quds Force, an elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, still provides much of the explosives for the militants.
2008-03-12 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive