Smuggling down due to tight measures along borders

NINEWA / IraqiNews.com: Smuggling operations along the Iraqi border with Syria have declined due to tight security measures and support from the U.S. forces, a local security source said on Wednesday. “The smuggling of sheep and weapons through the Iraqi-Syrian border has significantly dropped following tight security measures along the border,” the chairman of al-Biaaj council, Jassem Mohamed Hussein, told IraqiNews.com news agency. In cooperation with the U.S. forces, Iraqi border protection forces are guarding the borders, Hussein explained. Iraqi sheep are being smuggled into Syria through Talafar district (60 km northwest of Mosul), Sinjar (120 km northwest of Mosul and al-Biaaj (130 km west of Mosul), which have brought up meat prices in Ninewa. Mosul, the capital city of Ninewa province, lies 405 km north of Baghdad. SS (P)/SR 2