Iraq to Set up Barbed Wire Fence to Secure Border with Iran

Iraqi soldiers are seen on duty. (INA)
Iraqi soldiers are seen on duty. (INA)
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Iraq to Set up Barbed Wire Fence to Secure Border with Iran

Iraqi soldiers are seen on duty. (INA)
Iraqi soldiers are seen on duty. (INA)

Iraq has kicked off a plan to erect a barbed wire fence to secure its borders with Iran.

The move is taking place days after Interior Minister Abdul Amir Al Shammari said Iraq’s border with Syria has been almost completely secured with surveillance cameras.

He added that the border with Iraq remains a source of concern given the activities of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

An Iraqi security source said on Sunday that the barbed wire fence with Iran will stretch from the eastern Diyala region to the Waset and Sulaymaniyah provinces.

Advanced thermal cameras and surveillance towers will also be set up along the border to prevent smuggling and any infiltrations, it added.

The erection of the fence is in line with a joint security agreement signed between Baghdad and Tehran in November 2023.

Separately, Iraqi military spokesman Yahya Rasool announced the launch of a third phase of the anti-ISIS “Promise of Truth” operation carried out by the armed forces.

The latest phase aims to crack down on remnants of the extremist group in its “most dangerous hotbeds” between the provinces of al-Anbar and Diyala.

The operation was kicked off in the Salaheddine and Kirkuk regions at dawn on Sunday. It is being overseen by the Joint Operations Command and carried out according to accurate intelligence information, added Rasool.

Later on Sunday, the Joint Operations Command announced the killing of ten ISIS members during the third phase of the crackdown.



Canadian PM Urges Citizens to Leave Lebanon as Evacuations Top 1,000

Smoke rises over Beirut's southern suburbs, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon October 5, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises over Beirut's southern suburbs, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon October 5, 2024. (Reuters)
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Canadian PM Urges Citizens to Leave Lebanon as Evacuations Top 1,000

Smoke rises over Beirut's southern suburbs, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon October 5, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises over Beirut's southern suburbs, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon October 5, 2024. (Reuters)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged Canadian citizens still in Lebanon on Saturday to sign up to be evacuated on special flights which have already helped more than 1,000 leave as security there deteriorates.

Canada has 6,000 signed up to leave and officials are trying to reach another 2,500 over the weekend, an official in Trudeau's office said, adding that more flights were being added for Monday and Tuesday.

"We've still got seats on airplanes organized by Canada. We encourage all Canadians to take seats on these airplanes and get out of Lebanon while they can," Trudeau said at a summit of leaders from French-speaking countries in France.

Canada has not been able to fill flights with its citizens and has offered seats to people from the Australia, New Zealand, the United States and some European countries, the official in his office said.

Israel has expanded its strikes on Lebanon in recent weeks after nearly a year of exchanging fire with Lebanon's Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.

Fighting had been mostly limited to the Israel-Lebanon border area, taking place in parallel to Israel's year-old war in Gaza against Hamas.

Trudeau said an immediate ceasefire from both Hezbollah and Israel was needed so the situation could be stabilized and United Nations resolutions could begin to be respected again.