Iraqi officials accused Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces of taking advantage of the crisis near Baghdad Wednesday, saying that Syrian warplanes struck several border areas in Anbar province Tuesday. 

At least 57 Iraqi civilians were killed and 120 wounded in the attacks, local officials told CNN, in cities controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). 

This is not the first time this week Syrian forces have fired into a neighboring country. On Sunday, Syrian forces lobbed a mortar shell into the Golan Heights, killing a 13 year-old boy and seriously wounding a Ministry of Defense civilian subcontractor. Israel responded with airstrikes. 

If true, the report would indicate an even broader spillover of the Syrian Civil War, which has mushroomed since 2011 from a statewide dispute into an all-out Islamic holy war between Sunni and Shi’te groups. 

Sabah Karkhout, the head of Iraq’s Anbar provincial council, told CNN that Tuesday’s airstrikes hit markets and fuel stations in Rutba, al-Walid and Al-Qaim (see map below). 

Karkhout said he was certain the warplanes were Syrian because they bore the Syrian flag.

“Also, the planes flew directly from Syrian airspace and went back to Syria,” he added. 

Nickolay Mladenov, head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, confirmed Wednesday that the warplanes that bombed the Iraqi cities were not Iraqi jets, but told reporters he did not have information beyond that.

State-based media in Syria called the reports “completely baseless,” blaming them on “malicious media outlets.” 

Meanwhile, the Iraqi military continue to hold the entire area between Samarra and Baghdad, according to several international media outlets, despite constant skirmishes with advancing ISIS forces. 

The ISIS has already controlled the Iraqi city of Fallujah for five months, and has also led one of the strongest rebel movements fighting Assad in Syria. 

This month’s offensive has seen the ISIS claim an unprecedented number of victories in a lighting-fast takeover of the flashpoint region. 

So far, the Islamists have made a systemic advance from northern Iraq and southward. Several weeks ago, ISIS leaders seized Mosul; just 48 hours later, Tikrit – birthplace of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein – fell to the terrorists.