URGENT: Iraqi allied forces officially reach Syrian border-crossing

The pro-government Popular Mobilization Units (Hashd Al-Sha’abi) have reached the Syrian border-crossing in the Nineveh Governorate, the Iraqi Joint Command reported this afternoon.

According to the statement released by the Joint Command, the Iraqi Armed Forces reached the Nineveh border-crossing into Syria for the first time since losing this area to the Islamic State (ISIL) in 2014.

With the capture of this border-crossing, the Iraqi Armed Forces have assisted the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) secure part of the border shared by Iraq and Syria.

The Iraqi Armed Forces will likely turn their attention to the strategic Al-Qa’im crossing in the Al-Anbar Governorate after today’s operations.

The Al-Qa’im crossing is the Islamic State’s last border point that links their forces in Iraq with those in Syria; if lost, they will be effectively surrounded from all sides.