The Iraqi Border Guard will build 200 new outposts along Turkey and Iran borders to boost the security in the region in response to two neighbouring countries’ recent attacks.
The new positions will be established in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s border areas with the two neighboring countries, Karwan Khoshnaw, a spokesperson for the force told Kurdistan24 on Wednesday.
New military-grade thermal cameras are also planned to be set up to monitor any movements along the region, he said.
Turkey on Nov.19 has launched an aerial offensive into Northern Iraq and Syria targeting Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its Syrian affiliate Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in response to a bomb attack in Istanbul, killing six people on Nov.13. Accusing PKK and YPG over the attack, Ankara has been since conducting airstrikes targeting the two groups’ bases in the region, also signalling a ground offensive. Iran on the other hand, has recently increased its cross-border operations into Northern Iraq, targeting Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups who blames of weaponizing the Mahsa Amini protests.
The Iraqi Border Guard Force has recently announced job openings for 3,000 troops in a move to increase the number of the forces stationed in the Kurdish area of Northern Iraq, Kurdistan24 said.
The Iraqi government decided to act in cooperation with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to “unify the national effort to protect the Iraqi borders” against Turkish and Iranian attacks that it denounces as “violations” on Iraq’s sovereignty.
Source: Gerçek News
