Iraq removes SDF personnel from border post, refutes reports of tensions
Shafaq News/ The Iraqi Border Forces Command announced, on Tuesday, the removal of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) personnel from a post inside Iraqi territory, dismissing reports claiming “tensions along the Iraqi-Syrian border.”
The post is located in the second Battalion’s sector of the 12th Border Brigade in the Rabia subdistrict of Nineveh province in northern Iraq.
The Border Forces Command explained in a statement that this measure was taken “to facilitate the installation of a concrete barrier along the Iraqi-Syrian border, a project currently underway by the engineering units of the Border Forces.”
The statement stressed that border security remains at its highest level, urging accuracy in reporting and reliance solely on official sources.
Notably, Nineveh is located on the Iraqi-Syrian border where the situation remains critical, given its proximity to conflict zones. Securing this border is integral to combating cross-border terrorism and maintaining stability in the region.
Iraqi forces have strengthened their presence along the Syrian border following the collapse of the Assad regime late in 2024, after armed groups ousted the regime within days.
The fall of the Assad regime has raised fears in Iraq of a repeat of mid-2014, when ISIS seized nearly one-third of the country, capitalizing on the spillover of the Syrian conflict between the regime and opposition factions over the past years.