Iraq started on Thursday to send Syrian soldiers of deposed former leader Bashar al-Assad's army back to their homeland, according to an Iraqi official body responsible for disseminating security information.

Iraq said on Thursday that it has repatriated 1,905 Syrian soldiers, who had sought refuge in the country a day before the fall of the Bashar Assad regime. Their weapons, however, remained in Iraqi custody, awaiting transfer to Syria's new government once formed, according to a statement from Iraq’s Joint Operations Command.