Iraqi military denies attacks, says borders with Syria under control
Iraqi-Jordanian borders.
In a press release, the Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell said “some media channels circulated news about redeployment of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) on borders with Syria after the troops were attacked from inside the Syrian lands.”
“The Joint Operations Command clarifies that the Iraqi-Syrian borders are under Iraqi control, protected by the border troops and Iraqi army. No attacks were launched from Syria,” the statement added. “However, the north of Euphrates River from Syria’s side is still under Islamic State’s control. Maneuvers occur every now and then. And our troops strictly respond to any source of fire.”
The statement called for sticking to accuracy while circulating news related to military.
On Friday, Qassim Musleh, commander of PMFs operations in west of Anbar, announced dispatching military reinforcements to Iraqi-Syrian borders, saying several checkpoints encountered attacks.
A government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition has been fighting, since October 2016, the militant group, which declared a self-styled “caliphate” from Mosul in June 2014.
The war against IS has so far displaced at least five million people. Thousands of others fled toward neighboring countries including Syria, Turkey and other European countries, since IS emerged to proclaim its self-styled “caliphate”.