BAGHDAD (Dispatches) – The Iraqi army on Tuesday launched a military operation to secure its borders with Syria.
The operation, code-named “Revenge of the Martyrs”, aims to secure the border area between Iraq and Syria, commander of the Iraqi Border Guards, Hamid al-Husseini, said in statements carried by the official Iraqi News Agency.
He said military forces, border guards, and the pro-government Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), also known as Hashd al-Sha’abi, are taking part in the operation.
Iraq shares 1,000-kilometre borders with Syria. In recent months, Daesh has escalated its attacks on Iraq, especially in the area between Kirkuk, Salah al-Din, and Diyala, known as the Triangle of Death.
In 2017, Iraq declared victory over Daesh by reclaiming all territories the terrorist group controlled since the summer of 2014 which was estimated to be about a third of the country.
The group, however, still maintains sleeper cells in the country and launches sporadic attacks.
In another development, Iraqi Defense Minister, Juma Inad, said his country has expressed interest in buying Turkish-made unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), helicopters and military hardware.
In an interview with local Al-Sharqiya TV channel, the minister said the Turkish military industries are advanced and Iraq wants to benefit from them.
According to Inad, Baghdad is interested in buying Turkish Bayraktar TB2 UCAV, 12 individual T129 Tactical Reconnaissance and Attack Helicopters (ATAK) and has sent a “request to buy” six of Turkey’s Koral electronic warfare systems.
On Thursday, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar met with his Iraqi counterpart and discussed defense and security issues as well as bilateral and regional cooperation.