ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Equipped with heavy weaponry, hundreds of Iraqi army soldiers took part in a military drill across the border with Syria on Sunday, as a sign of readiness to repel any attempts that might be done to threaten Iraq's soil.
“We conducted this training and drill to check combat readiness," Yasser Hussein, an Iraqi army commander, told Rudaw. "The formations in the sector are well-secured and morale is high."
The troops have been deployed to a border crossing linking Iraq’s Nineveh province with Syria. The Islamic State (ISIS) crossed into Iraq through this section of the border when it controlled large swathes of territory in 2014.
The drill on the Syrian border comes nearly a year after a regime change in Syria. The ousted dictator of Syria Bashar al-Assad was an ally of Iraq.
Some Iraqi politicians fear that the new authorities in Damascus pose a threat to Iraq's national security, but Baghdad is attempting to rebuild relations with the interim government, dominated by the now-dissolved jihadist Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
“Regarding our work as snipers, we have our classified missions, and we have taken all necessary measures. As for us, we have mortar batteries and we also have the category of carriers which is the mechanized infantry regiment," said Zaid Abed Khanjar, an Iraqi sniper.
The border guard forces protect 620 kilometers of Iraq's border with Syria. Among these forces were special forces and snipers.
This is the second drill they have conducted at the border in a year.
