Iraq: Syria border fully secured despite escalation

Shafaq News– Baghdad

Iraq’s entire border with Syria is secure and under continuous monitoring, Interior Minister Abdul Amir Al-Shammari confirmed on Tuesday, as fighting intensified in northeastern Syria.

In a statement, Al-Shammari said security units are closely following military developments inside Syria, including advances by government forces toward areas held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which recently reached oil facilities and detention sites holding ISIS militants.

Iraq had anticipated the current escalation for “more than three years,” he said, stressing that border forces are prepared to contain any spillover.

Earlier, Iraqi Armed Forces spokesperson Sabah Al-Numan also affirmed that Iraq’s borders with all neighboring countries remain fully secure.

The US-led Coalition, meanwhile, completed its withdrawal from the country, including personnel previously stationed at Ain al-Asad air base, under a bilateral agreement to end the Coalition’s combat mission by September 2026. To independently hold the frontier, Iraqi authorities have reinforced the roughly 600-kilometer border with Syria in recent months, expanding barriers, watchtowers, and electronic surveillance, including thermal cameras, to curb smuggling and prevent the reemergence of ISIS fighters, according to Interior Ministry statements.

Read more: Syria’s calm: An end to threat or a start of a complex security phase for Iraq?