Iraq has fortified a 140-kilometer (87-mile) stretch of its border with Syria to prevent the Islamic State terrorist organization (IS, banned in Russia) from entering Iraqi soil, Tahsin Al-Khafaji, a spokesman for the country's Joint Operations Command, told Sputnik
BAGHDAD (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th March, 2021) Iraq has fortified a 140-kilometer (87-mile) stretch of its border with Syria to prevent the Islamic State terrorist organization (IS, banned in Russia) from entering Iraqi soil, Tahsin Al-Khafaji, a spokesman for the country's Joint Operations Command, told Sputnik.
"The Iraqi-Syrian border is approximately estimated at 610 kilometers, with 220 of them a vulnerable section [supervised by] the Peshmerga forces in the Kurdistan region. Now, in cooperation with the defense ministry, the ministry of water resources and the Popular Mobilization Forces, we have begun closing this part, and, so far, we have managed to cover around 140 kilometers," Al-Khafaji said.
The military official noted that the IS has recently stepped up its activities in northeastern Syria.
"The IS militants always use desert and mountainous areas to infiltrate [Iraq's territory] through any existing gaps. However, permanent surveillance is being conducted, and major intelligence efforts are taken [to suppress such cases]," Al-Khafaji said. "If we finish this work, we will completely stop infiltration attempts by members of the Islamic State into Iraq."
In the closed area, the forces built trenches about ten feet deep and wide and placed earth mounds, barbed wire fences and towers with video surveillance cameras obtained from the international coalition, the spokesman added.
In a bid to confront terrorists, Iraq is carrying out coordination work with Syria through a quartet intelligence-sharing center, which also includes Iran and Russia, Al-Khafaji noted.
In late 2017, Iraq declared victory over the Islamic State, but the army, with the support of the US-led coalition and militia units, still conducts offensives against terrorists and sleeper cells that are active in different parts of the country.
