“Today, we visited the Border Forces Command and held a press conference, during which we clarified that securing Iraq’s borders is not a recent development. The current state of control along the Iraqi borders is the best in history of the borders of the state of Iraq,” Miqdad Miri, the spokesperson for Iraq's interior ministry told journalists.
“The border with Syria is the most secure compared to other borders,” he added.
A coalition of Syrian rebel groups, led by the jihadist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), have made a dramatic grab of territory in northern Syria over the past five days. The Islamist fighters entered Syria’s largest city Aleppo on Friday afternoon after taking several villages in the surrounding countryside.
This is the first time the rebel groups have gained ground in years with the Syrian army admitting to losing territory.
The developments in Syria pushed Iraq to close its borders with the western neighbor.
Miri noted that the borders are secured by three lines of defense, including combat units from two Iraqi Army divisions, border security forces, and a Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) unit.
As the clashes erupted in Syria, Iraq immediately closed its western borders.
Iraqi officials, including the Defense Minister Thabet al-Abbasi, visited the army in the bordering areas with Syria on Saturday to monitor the preparations, and ensure that the fight does not spill into Iraq, including a possible infiltration of Jihadist militants into the country.
The minister also conducted an “aerial reconnaissance tour along the Iraq-Syria border strip” to inspect measures taken by the security forces, according to a statement from his office.
Abbasi told Rudaw on Monday that the situation at the border is “calm” and military units stationed there were “on high alert.”
On Sunday, Syria’s Idlib-based rebel government sent a message to the Iraqi government "assuring" that their "revolution" is against the Syrian regime and does not "pose a threat to Iraq's security and stability."
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday said that the developments are part of a wider plan to divide the region, in a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian, with Tehran also a key backer of Damascus.
Assad vowed that the escalation “will only increase Syria’s determination to confront and eliminate terrorists in all Syrian territories,” while Pezeshkian reaffirmed support for Damascus.
