UN says thousands of Syrians fleeing to Iraq
BAGHDAD - The Associated Press
Free Syrian Army fighter lights a cigarette as a fellow fighter rests inside a room in Deir al-Zor August 18, 2013. REUTERS photo
The U.N. refugee agency says that around 30,000 Syrians have fled to Iraq's northern self-ruled Kurdish region since Thursday, an unusually large exodus from Syria's bloody two-year conflict.Youssef Mahmoud, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in the Kurdish region, gave The Associated Press the figures on Monday, saying that most of the refugees were from Syria's Kurdish provinces. He said the latest wave has brought the number of Syrian refugees in the Kurdish region to around 195,000.
More than 100,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 and later exploded into a civil war.
