Iraq shuts border crossings with Jordan, Syria to block Qaeda Terrorists

Iraq has closed border crossings with Jordan and Syria as part of a large-scale security operation in border areas.
On Tuesday, Baghdad ordered troops to shut the Traibil crossing in the western province of Anbar on the borders with Jordan, and al-Walid crossing with Syria, according to an Iraqi Interior Ministry source.

On Monday, Iraqi security forces destroyed two camps belonging to an al-Qaeda-linked militant group in Anbar province.

The attack came after 18 Iraqi military officers were killed in an ambush on Saturday in the province.

The commander of the army’s Seventh Division as well as the commander of its 28th Brigade and several other high-ranking officers were among those killed in the attack.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has also warned that an anti-government sit-in site in a city in the Anbar province has become a “headquarters” for al-Qaeda.

“I say clearly and honestly that the sit-in site in Anbar has turned into a headquarters for the leadership of al-Qaeda,” he said on Sunday.

The Iraqi prime minister called on the Iraqi forces to take a “firm stance to end” the sit-in in Ramadi, the largest city in the province.

According to the United Nations, at least 8,000 people have lost their lives in violence-related incidents in Iraq so far this year.