Iraqi Parliament warns of terrorist threats from Syria
Shafaq News/ Iraq's First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mohsen al-Mandalawi, on Saturday, voiced concerns over the rising "terrorist movements" in Syria and their potential impact on security in Iraq and the broader region.
This comes with rising security tensions along the Iraqi-Syrian border, especially as armed opposition forces advance in Aleppo.
"The failure of the Zionist entity [Israel] in Lebanon and Gaza, coupled with its inability to dismantle the unity of the fronts supporting Palestine, has led to the reactivation of terrorist groups on the Syrian stage," Al-Mandalawi stated in a press release.
He stressed that the Iraqi Parliament will “closely monitor the situation to ensure necessary security measures are taken.”
“We urge Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, to bolster readiness among Iraq's security forces to safeguard the country’s borders… and we call on military leaders to conduct field visits to oversee border security operations.”
Additionally, al-Mandalawi directed the Parliamentary Security and Defense Committee to hold an emergency meeting and summon relevant officials to discuss the recent developments.
Highlighting the importance of intelligence cooperation, he emphasized intensifying communication with Syrian authorities to exchange information and carrying out preemptive operations to thwart any attempts by terrorist groups to infiltrate Iraq.
Earlier today, the Iraqi Minister of Defense and military leaders arrived in the Western Nineveh Operations Sector in Sinjar, near the Syrian border.
The Ministry of Defense announced that Defense Minister Thabet Al-Abbasi, accompanied by the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, the Joint Operations Commander, and the Ground Forces Commander, arrived in the sector to assess the security situation within the sector and inspect the Iraq-Syria border strip.
Al-Abbasi affirmed that the Iraqi armed and security forces, in all their formations and branches, are “ready” to safeguard the country's borders and airspace against any potential threats.
