All illegal routes across the Iraqi-Syrian border will be closed within the next two months, a spokesman for Iraq's Joint Operations Command told Sputnik on Wednesday
BAGHDAD (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th April, 2021) All illegal routes across the Iraqi-Syrian border will be closed within the next two months, a spokesman for Iraq's Joint Operations Command told Sputnik on Wednesday.
"About 220 kilometers [137 miles] were not ready. We finished the works on 140 kilometers and we hope to finish and close all loopholes on the Iraqi-Syrian border within two months," Tahsin Al-Khafaji said.
In its works, the Iraqi military is using the towers and barbed wire provided by the US-led international coalition, the spokesman said. Support has also been provided by Iraq's Shiite-dominated Popular Mobilization Forces, the Defense Ministry and the Ministry of Water Resources, he added.
Al-Khafaji noted that Iraq and Syria continue to cooperate via a four-party intelligence-sharing center, which also involves Russia and Iran. Its key purpose is to fight terrorism, including the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia).
"It plays a major coordination role between Iraq, Syria, Iran and Russia," the spokesman said.
In late 2017, Iraq declared victory over the Islamic State. Nevertheless, the army, supported by the US-led coalition and local militia units, still conducts operations against dormant cells and terrorists active in different parts of the country.
In mid-March, Al-Khafaji told Sputnik that Iraq had fortified a 140-kilometer stretch of its border with Syria to prevent the IS infiltration.
