Iraqi forces seize strategic border crossing with Syria
- World
- Anadolu Agency
- Published Date: 12:00 | 03 November 2017
- Modified Date: 02:51 | 03 November 2017
Iraqi forces have wrested control of the Al-Qaim border crossing with Syria from the Daesh terrorist group, Iraqi military sources said Friday.
"Iraqi anti-terrorism forces, backed by tribal volunteer fighters, have successfully liberated the Al-Qaim border crossing," Iraqi Army Colonel Walid al-Duleimi told Anadolu Agency.
Located in Iraq's western Anbar province (roughly 410 kilometers west of provincial capital Ramadi), the Al-Qaim crossing links the Iraqi city of Husaybah to the town of Abu Kamal in Syria's Deir ez-Zour province.
"Our forces managed to retake the crossing after killing several Daesh elements," said al-Duleimi, adding that "large numbers" of Daesh militants had fled across the border into neighboring Syria.
Last month, Al-Qaim became the last Daesh-held Iraq-Syria border crossing after Iraqi forces retook the Al-Walid and Rabia crossings respectively located in Anbar and Nineveh province.
The Al-Qaim border crossing stands roughly two kilometers west of the Iraqi city of Al-Qaim, which Iraqi forces reportedly captured on Friday.
Last month, the Iraqi army began a wide-ranging campaign aimed at capturing the cities of Rawa and Al-Qaim, Daesh's last remaining redoubts in Anbar province.
The notorious terrorist group has recently suffered a string of crushing defeats in both Iraq and Syria after overrunning vast swathes of territory in both countries in 2014.