Iraq begins building border fence with Syria to block Daesh entry

Iraq has embarked on a project to erect a fence along its border with Syria as it seeks to block any attempt by Daesh Takfiri militants to enter the country.

A border guards spokesman said Sunday that the new fence, which includes a six-meter-wide trench and involves thermal cameras and drones scanning the border, will cover an area of about 600 kilometers starting from the town of al-Qaim in Anbar Province.

“Ten days ago we started to set up a barbed wire security fence with surveillance towers along the border with Syria,” said Anwar Hamid Nayef, adding that some 20 kilometers of the fence had already been installed north of al-Qaim.

The official said if experts from Iraq’s Ministry of Defense and officials from a coalition of foreign forces approve of the fence and its specifications, the frontier barrier will stretch to the whole border separating Iraq and Syria.

“If they approve the installations, we will continue along the whole border with Syria,” said Nayef, adding that experts would come “to evaluate the effectiveness of the fence”.

After fighting a fierce battle against Daesh that lasted more than three years, Iraq declared a complete victory over the group late last year, meaning that militants had been purged of their main bastions in west and north of the country.

However, Daesh still holds pockets of land in Iraq and in neighboring Syria and its forces still carry out frequent bomb attacks on places of gathering in large Iraqi cities.

In a bid to further push back the militants, Iraq has also expanded its military operations to target Daesh hideouts inside Syria.

Iraqi authorities said this week that they had found bodies of eight captives killed by Daesh along a highway north of Baghdad.