Islamic State continues to menace Iraqi-Syrian border
Security risks continue to fester in the mostly desert terrain between Iraq and Syria, where the Islamic State conducts brazen attacks even as its alleged leaders are reported killed.
Both sides of the border between Iraq and Syria continue to experience attacks as concerns grow about tens of thousands of women and children in limbo, many of whom are exposed to Islamic State indoctrination, and joblessness heightens desperation. There is also a generalized distrust from a lack of reliable information.
In late June, IS claimed to have captured and executed a member of the Jughayfa tribe in Iraq’s northwestern Nineveh province and tribal fighters on the Syrian side of that border.
A statement issued by Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) on July 13 said an operation carried out at dawn in the “Sheikh Ibrahim Mountains and the Al-Mahalbia district, southeast of Tal Afar” had “found dens of terrorist gangs” in Nineveh province. No IS fighters were reported killed or captured.
Across the border in Syria, US Central Command Forces (CENTCOM) reported July 12 that it had conducted a drone strike targeting two top IS officials outside Jindayris in northwest Syria. The report stated that Maher al-Agal, who it called one of IS' top five leaders and the group's Syria head, "was killed in the strike,” adding, “Al-Agal was responsible for aggressively pursuing the development of [IS] networks outside of Iraq and Syria.”
