Prelude
On 1 March 2013, according to the Syrian officer who was in charge of the Yaarubiyeh border crossing, north of the Iraqi border, reported a man identifying himself as the leader of one faction in the Islamist rebel coalition called him that day demanding that he and his men surrender. He refused and the poorly defended border outpost, which only had 70 soldiers despite being one of the three main ones along the Syrian–Iraqi border, came under intense attack resulting in the deaths of six of his men. He said this forced him and the remaining men to the Iraqi Rabiya border crossing. The group of 64 were detained by Iraqi authorities and transported toAmbush
The incident took place on 4 March 2013, while the convoy was on its way to the al-Waleed Border Crossing post in the Nineveh province of western Iraq, located in the predominantly Sunni Anbar Province. The convoy was transporting the unarmed Syrian soldiers in several buses to al-Waleed, where they would be transferred back to Syrian authorities. While the convoy was on its way Islamic State of Iraq gunmen set up a well coordinated assault on the convoy with roadside bombs, automatic weapons, and rocket-propelled grenades. The gunmen attacked the convoy from two sides. Explosives were first detonated on Iraqi military escorts assigned to protect transport the lorries full of unarmed Syrian soldiers. A total of 51 Syrian soldiers died, while ten others were wounded. Thirteen Iraqi soldiers were also killed in the attack.Perpetrators
The identity of the attackers was immediately unknown, but Iraqi officials initially blamed theReferences
{{coord, 33.2500, N, 40.5833, E, source:wikidata, display=title Military operations of the Syrian civil war in 2013 Military operations of the War in Iraq (2013–2017) involving the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Iraq–Syria border Spillover of the Syrian civil war Ambushes March 2013 events in Syria Mass murder in 2013 March 2013 events in Iraq