Iraqi border crossings better protected as cells attempt desert attacks
The prime minister’s decision to send military reinforcements to Iraq's border ports last year seems to have made officials feel safer and reduced revenue-siphoning corruption.
TREBIL, Iraq — On Iraq's western edge, a border crossing with Jordan is surrounded by desert that has long been difficult to secure. The same can be said for Qaim, a port of entry further north that borders Syria. And along Iraq's eastern border with Iran, there is the Zerbatiya crossing, where the Hamrin mountains — known for decades as a favorite hideout of insurgent groups — stretching to the Salahuddin province are silhouetted against the horizon.
The Rutba area, along the main road between Trebil and Anbar province's capital, Ramadi, has been the site of several terrorism-linked incidents in recent weeks. A Jan. 29 confrontation southwest of the city between border police and three men, one of whom was wearing a suicide belt, resulted in the attackers' deaths and the wounding of a policeman.
The following day, a spokesman for Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said a top military official of the Islamic State, Muthana Shatran al-Marawi, had been killed in the western desert area of the Rutba district.
Kadhimi pledged upon being sworn in last year that he would fight corruption and bring weapons under state control. Ensuring that the country’s borders are well-organized and protected is key to both of these aims.
