Iraq has started construction on a fence at its Syrian border, in order to keep Islamic State jihadis from entering Iraqi territory, Breitbart reported.
"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, Iraq border guard spokesman in Iraq’s Anbar province.
The barrier is 20 kilometers and will include a six-meter trench, surveillance towers, and thermal imaging technology to detect potential attempts to cross the border. The barrier will run over the border town of Al-Qaim, where Iraqi forces defeated ISIS last November, the report said.
The spokesman added that the experts from the U.S. and Baghdad’s defense ministry would soon visit to "evaluate the effectiveness" of the construction.
"If they approve the installations, we will continue along the whole border with Syria… neither infiltrators nor smugglers nor terrorists will penetrate our borders in the future,” the spokesman said, Breitbart reported.
In total, Iraq’s Syrian border is about 600 kilometers.
ISIS formerly controlled about one-third of Iraq, during the height of its power in 2014, Breitbart noted.
Hundreds are in prisons across Iraq awaiting trial for their involvement with ISIS. In 2017, 117 people were executed by hanging due to terror activities, the report said.
Iraq executed 12 terrorists Friday following the office of the Iraqi prime minister recommending that death sentences be carried out more quickly.
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