Iraq declares alert along Syria border

Amid more reports of violence at the Iraqi-Syrian border, the Iraq interior ministry declared a security alert, ordering its troops to take defensive positions. Al-Shorfa newspaper quoted the director of media for the Iraqi Interior Ministry, Col. Hikmat Mahmoud al-Masari, as saying Wednesday "The state of alert was declared after mortars fell along the border strip between the two countries and after clashes broke out in Syria's Albu Kamal villages near the Iraqi border." Al-Masari noted an additional 3,000 troops were sent to mind the border "as the government tries to prevent a spill-over of the conflict onto Iraqi territories." Government officials said Wednesday helicopters were patrolling Iraqi air space around the clock.pe