ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq's Border Guard Command said Monday its borders with the neighboring countries are nearly fully monitored by surveillance cameras. It also denied reports that the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) have been deployed along the Syrian border amid regional tensions.
Haider Karkhi, spokesman for the Border Guard Command, told Rudaw that 99 percent of Iraq's borders are monitored by surveillance cameras and that concrete barriers are being extended along the Syrian frontier.
"Along 300 kilometers from Anbar to Mosul, we have secured our borders with Syria with concrete walls, and we are working to install concrete in another 100 kilometers," Karkhi said.
The announcement comes as Iraq seeks to avoid being involved in the regional tensions, particularly the ongoing unrest in Syria and tensions along Iraq’s borders with Iran and Turkey.
Karkhi dismissed recent media reports suggesting that the PMF - an umbrella of mostly Iran-backed paramilitary groups - were deployed on front lines at the Syrian border.
"On all borders, only Border Guard forces are on the front lines, and behind them the army and Popular Mobilization Forces are stationed," he said.
The border fortifications include trenches dug behind concrete walls and daily drone surveillance, with each unmanned aircraft capable of monitoring an 80-kilometer area, according to Karkhi.
Iraq shares a 618-kilometer border with Syria, where a transitional government is in power after ousting Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December. Iraq was a regional ally of Assad but now cautiously attempts to mend ties with the interim authority in Damascus.
Iraq also borders Iran along 1,420 kilometers and Turkey for 335 kilometers.
For the Turkish frontier, Iraq relies on advanced thermal imaging cameras and reinforced wire fencing rather than concrete walls due to difficult terrain and wildlife concerns, Karkhi said.
Border protection along the Turkish frontier is coordinated with Kurdish Peshmerga forces, while the Iranian border features surveillance cameras, guard posts and earthen trenches extending 50 kilometers in the Hawizeh Marshes area between Maysan and Basra provinces.
Notably, parts of Kurdistan Region’s borders with Turkey are controlled by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Malik Mohammed contributed to this article.