Iraq deploys armored units to fortify border amid Syria offensive

Iraq has deployed armored vehicles along its western border with Syria in response to escalating tensions following a surprise offensive by opposition forces in Syria.

The lightning assault, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and its allies, resulted in the Syrian government losing control of Aleppo, marking the first time since the civil war began in 2011 that the city fell into opposition hands.

The offensive has raised alarms in Iraq, still recovering from the trauma of decades of conflict, including the rise of ISIS. “Any infiltration on the Syrian-Iraqi border is absolutely impossible, because of the fortifications and the combat units located there,” said General Moqdad Miri, spokesperson for the Iraqi Interior Ministry.

To bolster border security, the Iraqi Defense Ministry announced the deployment of armored units from Al-Qaim, located on the western border, extending to the southern border with Jordan. Additional reinforcements were also dispatched to Nineveh province, further north.

These developments follow reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which claimed that 200 fighters from an Iraqi pro-Iranian militia had entered Syria to assist government forces.

The fighters reportedly crossed into the al-Boukamal region via Al-Qaim in two waves. However, representatives from Iraqi factions like Kataib Hezbollah, Al-Nujaba, and Kataeb Sayyid al-Shuhada denied sending reinforcements, with a commander from Kataib Hezbollah noting, “It is still too early to take this type of decision.”

The rise of ISIS, which captured large territories across Iraq and Syria in 2014, remains fresh in Iraq’s memory. The group declared a “caliphate” before being driven out of Iraq in 2017 by local forces, supported by a U.S.-led coalition. “Iraq has taken solid precautions after the bitter experience of 2014,” stated Qais al-Mohamadawi, Iraq’s deputy commander of joint operations, on Friday.