Iraq Secures Border with Syria to Prevent Infiltration of ISIS Militants

FILE: Iraqi soldiers carry weapons during an operation against ISIS militants in the frontline in neighborhood of Intisar, eastern Mosul, Iraq, December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
FILE: Iraqi soldiers carry weapons during an operation against ISIS militants in the frontline in neighborhood of Intisar, eastern Mosul, Iraq, December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
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Iraq Secures Border with Syria to Prevent Infiltration of ISIS Militants

FILE: Iraqi soldiers carry weapons during an operation against ISIS militants in the frontline in neighborhood of Intisar, eastern Mosul, Iraq, December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
FILE: Iraqi soldiers carry weapons during an operation against ISIS militants in the frontline in neighborhood of Intisar, eastern Mosul, Iraq, December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

Iraq’s government announced taking a series of new measures to prevent the infiltration of ISIS militants through the border with Syria.

Commander of the Border Guards Lieutenant General Hamid al-Husseini announced on Thursday that fortifications have been initiated to secure the borders, including the installation of thermal cameras and control towers.

“More than 150 control towers will be erected in Mount Sinjar,” he noted, stressing the efficiency of the thermal-camera systems.

According to Husseini, the situation is constantly improving.

The 617 kilometer-long border will be under the border guards’ control, he stressed, pointing to their determination to eliminate the threat posed by ISIS remnants.

ISIS militants recently stepped up their attacks in Iraq, prompting the NATO to expand its training mission in the country from 500 to around 4,000 personnel.

Notably, Baghdad and Washington revealed earlier that US military has cut troop levels in Iraq to 2,500 amid continuous calls for foreign troops to leave the country.

Meanwhile, attacks on US targets in Iraq continue despite a number of armed groups announcing a truce and vowing not to attack US interests, including the US Embassy in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.

On Thursday, a roadside improvised explosive device targeted a convoy carrying supplies for the US-led coalition forces on an international road in Diwaniyah. No causalities were reported.



Red Cross: Israel's Aid Blockade to Gaza 'Unacceptable'

FILE PHOTO: A view shows humanitarian aid with the logo of World Central Kitchen (WCK) at the Kerem Shalom border crossing to Gaza, Israel, May 1, 2024. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view shows humanitarian aid with the logo of World Central Kitchen (WCK) at the Kerem Shalom border crossing to Gaza, Israel, May 1, 2024. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/File Photo
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Red Cross: Israel's Aid Blockade to Gaza 'Unacceptable'

FILE PHOTO: A view shows humanitarian aid with the logo of World Central Kitchen (WCK) at the Kerem Shalom border crossing to Gaza, Israel, May 1, 2024. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view shows humanitarian aid with the logo of World Central Kitchen (WCK) at the Kerem Shalom border crossing to Gaza, Israel, May 1, 2024. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/File Photo

The Red Cross on Thursday denounced the human cost of the war raging in Gaza, slamming Israel's "unacceptable" full blockade on aid into the besieged and conflict-ravaged Palestinian territory.

Aid agencies have repeatedly warned of a growing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, which they say has been exacerbated by an Israeli blockade on all aid since early March, reported AFP.

"It is unacceptable that humanitarian aid is not allowed into the Gaza Strip," Pierre Krahenbuhl, director general of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told reporters in Geneva.

"That's just fundamentally against anything that international humanitarian law provides."

The situation in Gaza is on a "razor's edge" and "the next few days are absolutely decisive", he added.

"There's a moment where we will also run out of anything that's left in terms of medical supplies and other" aid, he said.

Israel resumed military operations in Gaza on March 18 after talks to prolong a ceasefire stalled.

The country denies a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the Gaza Strip, where it plans to expand military operations to force Hamas to free hostages held there since the Iran-backed group's unprecedented October 2023 attack.

'We should all be terrified'

"What we would need is an immediate return to a ceasefire situation to ease the pressure," Krahenbuhl said.

"I think everybody should feel deep indignation about what is happening in Gaza. I can't reconcile myself with the human cost of this conflict," he said.

"Frankly, if this is the future of warfare, we should all be terrified, and we should all be aware that this questions the very foundations of our humanity."

Israel is reportedly aiming to shut down the existing UN-led aid distribution system in Gaza, forcing all deliveries to go through Israeli hubs.

Krahenbuhl stressed that "there is no monopoly among humanitarian organizations" to deliver aid. "States can undertake it."

But he insisted that any delivery of aid must respect humanitarian principles "such as the impartiality of aid, that it actually reaches people, that it's not politically motivated and directed".

Every effort to get aid to Gazans in need should be "taken seriously", Krahenbuhl said.

"But right now, the most effective way to get aid to people is to lift... actions or decisions that were taken to prevent aid from reaching" inside Gaza.

"There are huge quantities of aid that are on the borders of Gaza that can go in tomorrow," he insisted.