Islamic State takes border station in Iraqi desert with 'drug smuggling wali'
A recent incident along Iraq’s western border and alleged connections between drug smuggling and Islamic State cells in the area have raised concern.
BAGHDAD — Orders to arrest three Iraqi border guard commanders in late April after positions were abandoned and equipment and weaponry were left to alleged Islamic State (IS) attackers seemed to show seriousness on the part of the government but also fostered concern.
Though not widely reported, the incident was painfully reminiscent for some — in a vastly minor way — of the international terrorist organization’s Mosul takeover in June 2014, when Iraqi security forces abandoned their positions en masse. The weapons, tanks and equipment left were subsequently used by IS to conquer more territory.
Interior Minister Othman al-Ghanimi reportedly promptly ordered the border officials responsible for the area arrested for “failing to perform their required duties.”
The border police station was located at an outpost south of the city of Rutbah. Rutbah, relatively near Iraq's borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, is in Iraq’s largest but sparsely populated, mostly desert province of Anbar. To the southeast is Muthanna province, which also borders Saudi Arabia.
