(2 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Baghdad, Iraq – 2 December 2024
1. Brig. Gen. Miqdad Miri, Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman, and Lt. Gen. Mohammad Abd al-Wahhab Sukar, Commander of Iraq’s Border Forces, at news conference
2. Ministry of Interior logo on podium
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Brig. Gen. Miqdad Miri, interior ministry spokesman:
"The Iraqi border with Syria spans 618 km and is fully secured with robust fortifications, including a trench, a concrete wall, and block barriers, along with highly trained and experienced combat units. The border is protected by two divisions of the Border Forces Command—the 2nd and 6th divisions—in addition to new support from the Iraqi Army and the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF)."
4. Close of flags
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Lt. Gen. Mohammad Abd al-Wahhab Sukar, Commander of Iraq’s Border Forces:
"Our borders with Syria are secure, and there is no threat from these borders. The current situation cannot be compared to the conditions of the borders in 2014. There is a significant intelligence effort from all agencies to support the ongoing (efforts). I would like to assure everyone that the Iraqi borders are well-protected and resilient against any attempts to compromise the sovereignty of the country."
6. Wide of end of news conference
STORYLINE:
A senior Iraqi security official assured on Monday that the country’s border with Syria is fully secured, addressing concerns of a potential spillover of insurgency attacks and conflict into neighbouring countries.
"Our borders with Syria are secure, and there is no threat from these borders. The current situation cannot be compared to the conditions of the borders in 2014," said Lt. Gen. Mohammad Abd al-Wahhab Sukar, Commander of Iraq’s Border Forces.
Sukar was referring to the year when the Islamic State group in 2014 notoriously declared a self-styled caliphate that seized parts of Syria and Iraq.
His comments come as Iranian-backed Iraqi militias were deployed in Syria to back the government’s counteroffensive against a surprise advance by insurgents who seized the largest city of Aleppo last week, a militia official and a war monitor said Monday.
Insurgents led by jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham launched a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and moved into the countryside around Idlib and neighbouring Hama province.
The push is among the rebels’ strongest in years and raised the prospect of another violent front reopening in the Middle East, at a time when U.S.-backed Israel is fighting Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, both Iranian-allied groups.
AP video shot by: Ali Jabar
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