Iraq launches security operation in areas bordering Iran
A comprehensive border security plan has been launched to close the illegal border crossings with Iran, an Iraqi provincial official said.
The Iraqi government has started the comprehensive security plan to end smuggling operations on the border with Iran, with internal security measures as well as coordination and intelligence cooperation with the Iranian side, Mazan Akram al-Khazaei, an official from Iraq’s Diyala Province told Shafaq News on Tuesday, IRNA reported.
The Iraqi border guards have started the implementation of the plan to close the illegal crossings in the east of Baqubah Province, especially the areas bordering Iran.
The Iraqi security forces’ effective measures are underway to be aimed at closing more than 20 illegal crossings in Gheyzaniyeh and Mandali regions, he said, adding that the evidence shows that some of these passages and crossings have been used for livestock and drug smuggling. The illegal border crossings with Iran have been extended for more than 40 kilometers, which in the mentioned plan will be blocked by stretching barbed wire and monitoring towers, he explained.
According to Shafaq News, east of Diyala Province in Iraq has faced a rise in smuggling operations in recent years.