IRAQ: Military boosts security along border with Syria to prepare for a possible influx of refugees and insurgents

Record ID: 278480

  • Title: IRAQ: Military boosts security along border with Syria to prepare for a possible influx of refugees and insurgents
  • Date: 11th August 2011
  • Summary: QAIM TWON, WESTERN ANBAR PROVINCE, IRAQ (RECENT - JULY 27, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF IRAQI SOLDIER CARRYING RIFLE AND PATROLLING AREA NEAR BORDER WITH SYRIA VIEW THROUGH BORDER FENCE OF PICTURE OF LATE SYRIAN PRESIDENT HAFEZ AL-ASSAD AND SYRIAN FLAG MORE OF SYRIAN SIDE OF BORDER THROUGH FENCE VARIOUS OF SIGN OUTSIDE HEADQUARTERS OF IRAQ BORDER POLICE (SOUNDBITE)
  • Embargoed: 26th August 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq, Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8LHBEZS95OK2370O2BR72MMAH
  • Story Text: Behind barbed wire and metal fences, Iraq's border police are keeping a watchful eye on Syria.
    As demonstrations continue against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, Syrian border guards have moved back to focus on internal revolt.
    And that has the Iraqi military worried.
    "We have been digging a 45-kilometre-long trench at the frontier to provide protection. The width of trench is two metres and the depth is three metres. In recent days we have increased the number of patrols in anticipation of an emergency," a commander of the Iraqi border police, Jamal Mohammed, told Reuters.
    The border post of Qaim lies only a few kilometres from Albu Kamal, a small Syrian town where residents say security forces have deployed tanks and helicopters after thousands of people staged anti-Assad protests.
    Now Iraqi commanders fear refugees may flee the fighting -- and head straight for the Iraq.
    "A plan has been prepared by Anbar operation command to receive the expected refugees if the situation deteriorates in Syria. The 28th brigade that belongs to Anbar operation command was sent to back up border forces," Mohammed said.
    Officials in Qaim say Iraqi troops have fought gun battles along the border with increasing regularity over the past month -- and worry smugglers and insurgents may seek to take advantage of the unrest in Syria.
    After the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, the border became a source of tension as an anti-American insurgency mounted.
    Iraq and the United States often accused Syria of allowing insurgents to cross the border, a charge denied by Damascus.
    "The number of smuggling operations has been increasing over the past week. Since the beginning of July up to now, we've had five to six skirmishes in a day, especially in the northern area of Senjar mountain where smugglers and infiltrators are active," said Brigadier General Haqi Ismail, commander of Iraq's western border police force.
    With only 7,500 troops to secure the 1,114 km (700 mile) frontier with Syria, that could be a struggle.
    But things are looking up, Ismail says, with support from the Iraqi army on its way and air surveillance provided by the United States.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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