Iraq announces full control of border with Syria after installing fence, thermal cameras

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi border guards confirmed the full control of the country’s border with Syria to reduce the infiltration of Islamic State (IS) militants into Iraq, the head of the border guards said in a statement on Saturday.

According to the commander of the Iraqi border guards, Major General Hamid Abdullah Ibrahim, border forces have completed the erecting of a barbed-wire fence along the Iraq-Syria border and are preparing to install thermal cameras to prevent the infiltration of IS militants.

“We are now concerned about the Syrian border. We have put forward a program based on Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s request…and are doing strategic work to protect the border,” Ibrahim said in a press statement.

“Neither infiltrators nor smugglers nor terrorists will penetrate our borders in the future,” the Maj. Gen. continued, adding the border guards’ work will expand following the strengthening of the Syrian-Jordanian-Iraqi border triangle.

Since declaring victory against IS last December, Prime Minister Abadi vowed to target the extremist group in areas of Syria along Iraq’s western border.

Iraq’s Air Force has carried out regular cross-border air raids against IS in Syria in coordination with the Bashar al-Assad government since 2017.

Last week, Iraqi warplanes struck the militant group’s position in the Hajin town along the Syria-Iraq border, killing 45 high-profile IS members.

Iraq, meanwhile, has witnessed an IS resurgence of its own in recent weeks with the group carrying out a string of guerrilla-style tactics including random bombings, assassinations, and kidnappings in previously liberated areas.