Gunmen Attack Convoy Of Syrian Cargo Trucks in Iraq
Al-Qaeda in Iraq may be behind an attack on four cargo trucks carrying highly flammable material from Iraq to Syria on June 2.
On Sunday morning, June 2, a convoy of four Syrian trucks loaded with highly flammable material was attacked 500 km (310 miles) from Baghdad. Three trucks were burned and their drivers killed. The fourth truck managed to escape.
The attack raised questions about the kind of help that Baghdad is providing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which an armed opposition has been trying to topple for more than two years.
According to sources at the Iraq-Syria al-Waleed border crossing in Anbar province, the volume of trade between the two countries has fallen by about 80% from what it was before the start of the armed conflict in Syria. That estimate agrees with that of the Iraqi Central Bank made in mid-2012.
The sources said that Iraq has sent almost no trucks to Syria for nearly a year, while Syrian trucks transport vegetables, fruits and medicine to Iraq. The sources said that the Syrian trucks usually return to Damascus empty after unloading their contents in Baghdad.
