 Despite a statement by the Iraqi deputy PM asserting that FSA controlled all four border crossings, though it had been confirmed that only three of them were still active because the Iraqi government had already closed one of them, a Reuters journalist on the Rabia border crossing confirmed the presence there of regular Syrian army, with Iraqi soldiers reporting no activity of Free Syrian Army in the vicinity of the crossing.Three other border crossings with Iraq and Turkey were, however, in rebel hands.On 21 July, the rebels controlled only the Abu Kamal border crossing with Iraq, adjacent to the city of Abu Kamal, after the arrival of Syrian Army reinforcements to the other two border crossings with the country.