Secret raid brings down ISIS arms-smuggling network
Shafaq News – Najaf
A group suspected of smuggling weapons to ISIS was arrested on Friday during a “covert” security operation carried out between the provinces of Najaf and Al-Anbar, a well-informed security source revealed to Shafaq News.
The source added, “three brigades from the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), along with two brigades from the Border Guards in Najaf, Mosul, and the border areas adjacent to Syria (Hasakah and Raqqa), took part in the operation,” to reinforce security and prevent infiltration attempts along the border, particularly after recent floods caused sections of the concrete barrier separating Iraq and Syria to collapse.
A document issued by Saraya Al-Salam—the military wing of the Patriotic Shiite Movement (PSM)—and sent to its leader Muqtada al-Sadr, exposed a network that was moving weapons and logistical supplies to ISIS along land routes connecting Najaf and Al-Diwaniyah to Al-Anbar.
The document, dated Saturday, December 6, stated that intelligence information pointed to the involvement of individuals from Najaf, specifically residents of the Al-Haydariyah area, in the sale and smuggling of weapons.
According to the document, the smugglers used “agricultural berms, livestock and fodder trade, foodstuffs, and petroleum products” as a cover to disguise their activities, transporting these goods—along with weapons and narcotics—from inside the province to areas where the ISIS is present, and vice versa.
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