Baghdad talks for the first time about "security cooperation" with "SDF" forces, mediated by the int

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[size=52]Baghdad talks for the first time about "security cooperation" with "SDF" forces, mediated by the international coalition[/size]


[size=31]Mohamed Ali [/size]
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Soldiers from the coalition with gunmen from the "SDF" in Deir ez-Zor (Getty)

[size=45]The military spokesman for the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, Major General Tahsin al-Khafaji, announced today, Wednesday, the cooperation between his country and the "Syrian Democratic Forces" ( [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ) militia in the security field, in the first declaration officially adopted by Baghdad, despite the passage of more than a year since the visit of the first delegation Iraqi security forces have transferred to the Syrian al- [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] camp   , which is run by the SDF, and Iraq has handed over dozens of ISIS members who are detained by the armed group in prisons run by northeastern Syria.[/size]
[size=45]The official Iraqi News Agency (INA) quoted a spokesman for the Joint Iraqi Operations Command, Major General Tahsin al-Khafaji, as saying that “there is a strengthening of the defensive lines on the border with Syria, where two defensive lines have been established: the first is represented by the border guards command, and the second is represented by the Iraqi army, in addition to the barriers concrete and watchtowers.[/size]

[size=45]Al-Khafaji revealed “cooperation with the “Syrian Democratic Forces” (SDF), through the international coalition, led by the United States, stressing that this cooperation is “in the intelligence field to pursue terrorists, prevent their infiltration and arrest them,” explaining that “joint cooperation made it impossible to infiltrate terrorists.” The Iraqi border is a very difficult matter for terrorist groups.”[/size]
[size=45]The Iraqi military official concluded by saying that "the security leadership has a complete vision of the Syrian al-Hol camp," noting that "work is continuing to control and secure the Iraqi-Syrian borders."[/size]
[size=45]This is the first declaration of its kind adopted by the Iraqi authorities regarding security cooperation with the “Syrian Democratic Forces” (SDF), which controls large parts of the Syrian governorates of Hasakah and Deir Ezzor bordering Iraqi territory.[/size]
[size=45]And in the middle of last month, the Iraqi authorities announced that they had received 50 ISIS detainees who hold Iraqi citizenship, who are held by the “Syrian Democratic Forces” in the Syrian governorate of Hasaka, as part of a plan to transfer them to Iraqi prisons and try them in the country.[/size]
[size=45]A statement by the government’s Security Media Cell, on the thirteenth of last August, confirmed that “the receipt of the detainees took place through coordination and joint cooperation with the international coalition,” and that “all the elements of the “ISIS” organization hold Iraqi citizenship after they were arrested inside the territories.” "The process of receiving these terrorists took place through the Rabia border crossing," he said.[/size]
[size=45]The prisons affiliated with the SDF hold hundreds of Iraqi detainees who are members of the “ISIS” organization. Over the past months, Iraq received dozens of them within the framework of a security program that focused on receiving prominent leaders of the organization for the purpose of trial in accordance with the Iraqi laws in force in the country, in cooperation with the international coalition forces led by the United States.[/size]

[size=45]During the past periods, the Iraqi forces conducted successive military operations to control the security of the borders with Syria, within the governorates of Anbar and Nineveh, which included the deployment of military units and the replacement of others, the installation of towers and surveillance cameras, and other measures. Also, military operations were carried out with the support of the Iraqi air force, to prevent infiltration operations.[/size]
[size=45]Commenting on the announcement, Iraqi political expert Ahmed Al-Nuaimi told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that “Iraq recorded more than 20 meetings with SDF forces during the past year and the current year 2022, within the Iraqi National Security Adviser, the intelligence service and the intelligence of the Iraqi army.”[/size]
[size=45]He added that "coordination and communication is through the joint coordination room run by the international coalition forces led by Washington, and not directly, and it is related to the Iraqi detainees held by the SDF and the Iraqis displaced from Al-Hol camp, in addition to the border file."[/size]
[size=45]And he considered that “Iraq still rejects the idea of ​​opening a land crossing in the part controlled by the SDF, because the latter refuses to raise the flag of the Syrian regime, and insists that it remain under its administration, and Iraq’s acceptance of this means its recognition of that armed group, in addition to the existence of a movement A wide Iraqi area to impose military control on the border strip within the (Fishkhabur) Triangle, around which Iraq is currently constructing a security fence, which means restricting one of the corridors of the PKK militants, as well as a smuggling outlet for SDF forces that benefit from it in transporting medicines and various goods between the two countries,” he said.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Nuaimi stated that the Iraqi announcement "constitutes confirmation of a relationship that has actually existed for about two years, and is not an announcement of the birth of a new cooperation or contact that occurs for the first time."[/size]
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