Around 2,000 Syrian troops have crossed the border into Iraq and sought refuge, Turki Al-Mahlawi, the mayor of Al-Qaim border town, told Reuters.

Since the rebels’ sweep into Aleppo a week ago, government defences have crumbled across the country at dizzying speed as insurgents seized a string of major cities and rose up in places where the rebellion had long seemed over.

Around 2,000 Syrian troops have crossed the border into Iraq and sought refuge, Turki Al-Mahlawi, the mayor of Al-Qaim border town, told Reuters.

Some of the troops were wounded and are currently receiving medical treatment, he added.

Besides capturing Aleppo in the north, Hama in the centre and Deir al-Zor in the east, rebels said they have taken southern Quneitra, Deraa and Suweida and advanced to within 50 km (30 miles) of the capital.

Government defences were focused on Homs, with state television and Syrian military sources reporting big airstrikes on rebel positions and a wave of reinforcements arriving to dig in around the city.

Meanwhile the rebels extended their control to almost the entire southwest and said they had captured Sanamayn on the main highway from Damascus to Jordan. The Syrian military said it was repositioning, without acknowledging territorial losses.