Iraq says borders with Syria protected

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi borders with Syria are fully protected amid clashes in Syria, an Iraqi military spokesperson said on Friday.

“Our border protection forces along the Syrian border are ready [for any developments] and our borders are fully protected,” Sabah al-Numan, spokesperson for the Joint Operations Command (JOC), told Rudaw.

Backup forces including the army and the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) are also on standby to counter any threats, he added.

Iraq shares a 618-kilometer border with Syria and its forces conduct daily drone surveillance and continuous border patrols, according to Numan.

At least 71 people were killed and dozens of others were wounded in clashes between security forces and supporters of the former regime in Alawite-majority areas on the western coast, a stronghold of the Assad family, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The dead are 35 members of the security forces, 32 gunmen affiliated with the army of the former regime, and four civilians.

Authorities imposed curfews in areas affected by the unrest and Damascus deployed reinforcements.

The new authorities in Damascus, headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group that spearheaded the offensive that drove Assad out of the country in December, have come under repeated criticism by minority groups who say they are being excluded from discussions about the country’s future.

Clashes have also broken out in the south of the country and Israel has threatened a military incursion to defend Druze communities.