ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Security on the Iraq-Syria border is to be stepped up following orders from PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi, according to a statement from Iraq’s top military spokesperson.
Kadhimi has ordered tighter security on the Syrian border, with thermal cameras and military reinforcements to be sent to the frontier, Yehia Rasool said on Thursday afternoon.
Three Syrian nationals were arrested after being smuggled across the border into Nineveh, Iraq's Security Media Cell said on Thursday night.
In mid-May, security officials said gaps in the border would be closed, with the support of the international coalition, “within two weeks” to prevent Islamic State (ISIS) militants from crossing into Iraq.
Several alleged ISIS fighters have been arrested after crossing the border in recent weeks. Despite cooperation between Iraqi and Syrian forces, the porous frontier has allowed the terror group to smuggle both weapons and fighters between the two countries, research has shown.
Last month, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched an operation to capture ISIS militants on the Iraq-Syria border, in cooperation with the coalition air forces. One of the goals of the four-day military operation was to control the smuggling of weapons and fighters through the border areas.
In February, security forces said nearly 100 ISIS militants had crossed the border into Nineveh province in the space of one week.
ISIS militants continue to wreak havoc in both Iraq and Syria, despite being territorially defeated in Iraq in December 2017 and in Syria in March 2019. The militants remain a threat on both sides of the border, carrying out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions.
