Up to 42 Syrian soldiers and four Iraqi soldiers were killed, and seven Iraqi soldiers wounded in an attack by unidentified gunmen on an Iraqi army convoy.

Up to 42 Syrian soldiers and four Iraqi soldiers were killed, and seven Iraqi soldiers wounded in an attack by unidentified gunmen on an Iraqi army convoy, which was escorting a bus carrying Syrian soldiers, in Iraq's Anbar province on Monday, a police source told media outlets.

"Our latest report said that 42 Syrian soldiers and four Iraqi soldiers were killed and at least seven Iraqi soldiers were wounded by the attack in western Iraq," a source from Anbar police told Xinhua news agency on condition of anonymity.

The attack occurred near the city of Rutba, some 375 km west of Baghdad, when unidentified gunmen attacked a convoy of military vehicles that were escorting a bus carrying Syrian soldiers who entered Iraq after the Syrian militant rebels seized al-Yaroubiyah border crossing point with Iraq's northern province of Nineveh, the source said.

The convoy was trying to transfer the Syrian soldiers from Nineveh province to Syria through al-Walid border crossing point in Iraq's western province of Anbar, he said.

The attackers burnt the bus carrying the Syrian soldiers and destroyed two Iraqi military vehicles, the source added.
On Saturday, Syrian opposition forces took control of al- Yaroubiyah border crossing point after fierce clashes with the Syrian army, forcing some Syrian soldiers to cross into Iraq.

On Sunday, the Iraqi authorities in Nineveh said several wounded Syrian soldiers were allowed to enter Iraq to receive treatment for their wounds at the Iraqi hospitals.

The Iraqi authorities said the Syrian soldiers were admitted to hospitals for humanitarian reasons.

Iraq has a borderline of around 600 kilometers with Syria. The border crossings had witnessed closure in history when crisis intensified on either side.