Iraq is taking steps to halt the movement of ISIS militants and drug smuggling along its border with Syria by imposing new security measures.
The 600-kilometre border between the two countries is controlled by a variety of forces, including the Iraqi military, Syrian army, US-backed Kurdish forces, Iran-backed militias and rebels who are anti-government.
“One of the biggest challenges is there’s no one single or unified security partner on the Syrian side,” Lt Gen Abdul Amir Al Shammari told Reuters.
The main issue, Gen Al Shammari said, is coming from Syria. The Iraqi side is more secure because it is under control of state forces.
As tensions increased between Washington and Tehran the border was seen as a hot spot that is intensifying owing to the presence of ISIS and Turkish pressure on Kurdish fighters.
Iraqi army spokesman Brig Gen Yahya Rasool, said on Monday that the army is exerting all efforts to ensure that borders with Syria are secure after orders from Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi.
Gen Rasool said security forces are focusing their operations on north-east Syria, where they believe ISIS militants are hiding.
“So far we have seen positive results,” he said.
Security experts believe that controlling the border with Syria is a cause for concern for the Iraqi government.
"The 600km border requires constant monitoring but Iraq has launched various operations since last year to control the borders," chief of Iraq Institute for Strategic Studies and security expert Moataz Moheddin said.
Co-ordination between Baghdad and Damascus is needed to ensure the safety of borders, he said, especially because the Syrian army does not control the majority of its borders.
On Wednesday, Iraq’s intelligence service said it arrested three ISIS fighters in an undercover operation in the northern province of Kirkuk.
Despite the government announcing victory over ISIS in 2017, remnants and cells of the group still regularly stage hit-and-run attacks or plant explosives across the country.
This week, authorities seized drugs and unlicensed weapons belonging to a criminal network in Baghdad.
Nearly 20 drug dealers were arrested for running a network in the capital and other cities across the country.
Authorities said that seven kilograms of drugs were seized, including crystal meth, hashish and marijuana.
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
If you go
The Flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Johannesburg from Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively. Economy return tickets cost from Dh2,650, including taxes.
The trip
Worldwide Motorhoming Holidays (worldwidemotorhomingholidays.co.uk) operates fly-drive motorhome holidays in eight destinations, including South Africa. Its 14-day Kruger and the Battlefields itinerary starts from Dh17,500, including campgrounds, excursions, unit hire and flights. Bobo Campers has a range of RVs for hire, including the 4-berth Discoverer 4 from Dh600 per day.
