As al Qaeda revives, Iraq struggles to secure Syria border

Fighters of al-Qaeda linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant carry their weapons during a parade at the Syrian town of Tel Abyad, near the border with Turkey January 2, 2014. REUTERS/Yaser Al-Khodor

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq is struggling to tighten control of its border with Syria, alarmed by a resurgent al Qaeda force that seeks to build an Islamic state across a frontier drawn in colonial times.

The Baghdad government has deployed troops and new U.S.- and Russian-made weaponry to try and cut the militants' cross-border supply lines, hoping that can kill off the threat. But as U.S. forces found before them, it is a near-impossible task.