'Al Qaeda infiltrating Syria via Iraq'

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari Thursday said Al Qaeda terrorists have infiltrated Syria via Iraq to carry out terror attacks, RIA Novosti reported.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari Thursday said Al Qaeda terrorists have infiltrated Syria via Iraq to carry out terror attacks, RIA Novosti reported.

"We have reliable data that the members of the terrorist group Al Qaeda have moved to another place, Syria, to assist in carrying out terrorist attacks, communicate with other militant groups and take part in the attacks," Zebari said.

The minister said Iraqi officials were worried about the spread of violence from Syria to the rest of the region.

In May, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Al Qaeda terrorists were among the ranks of opposition groups in Syria fighting against President Bashar al-Assad.

The UN estimated in May that around 10,000 people have been killed in Syria since the beginning of a revolt against Assad in March 2011.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based organisation with a network of activists in Syria, said the toll was around 16,500.

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