IRBIL (AA) - 3,000 more Syrian refugees have crossed the Iraqi border early Tuesday, according to an official from the regional administration in north of Iraq.
Syrian refugees are arriving in unprecedented numbers. According to the United Nations, 30,000 have fled since Thursday when the border crossing between Syria and Iraq was reopened.
Arif Sabah, who controls Peshabur border crossing, said, "We are opening the border in the early hours. We sent those, who crossed in the border, to camps. Everything is going well. We haven't faced any problems so far."
Dindar Zebari, deputy minister in the regional administration, told AA that total number of Syrian refugees in Iraq has reached 180,000.
According to Zebari, 100,000 of the refugees stay in Dohuk, there are 60,000 refugees in Irbil and 20,000 of those are in Suleymaniyah. Zebari also said 60 percent of the refugees are out of camps.
Speaking to AA reporter, a refugee Necmiye Muhammed said, "Some explosions have occurred near us. We've got scared so much. We've found the way to flee to Iraq."
Another refugee Ali Abdurrahman said, "Here is very secure when we compare with Syria. We didn't have even some piece of bread to eat there. Everyone was being killed. We stayed under fire between both Assad forces and Nusra."
