Iraqi troops say ready to face Islamic State dangers on borders with Syria
The spokesman for the Joint Operations Command Brigadier General Yahya Rasoul
In a statement, Brig. Gen. Yahia Rasool, the spokesperson for the command, said, “The Iraqi-Syrian borders are protected by the joint troops of army and al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) as well as the border guards.
Wide-scale operations are carried out at the desert regions between Salahuddin, Anbar and Nineveh near Syrian borders, the statement added.
“If we noticed any threat against the Iraqi borders, we would respond and target the terrorist militants in Syria,” Rasool said.
Troops, according to the statement, “previously targeted pivotal regions in Syria’s Hajin and al-Desheisha, through which several militants were killed.
On Sunday, the Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi stressed the need for tightening security along the border with neighboring Syria to eradicate terrorist groups scattered there.
In December, the Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced gaining control on all the territories that were captured by Islamic State, since 2014. However, Security reports indicate that the militant group still poses threat against stability in the country. The group still has dormant cells, through which it carries out attacks, across Iraq like it used to do before 2014.