Iraq Bolsters Syrian Border Defenses, Fearing ISIS Spillover

Iraqi officials are continuing to send large numbers of troops and militia fighters to the Syrian border, as fighting rages in Syria just north of the Euphrates River along the long, mostly desert border.

Last week, Iraqi officials announced they had ordered 30,000 fighters into the border area, and earlier this week, some entered Syria to chase ISIS out of some key border posts.

Thousands of ISIS fighters are active in this area on the Syrian side of the border. They had been fighting the Kurdish YPG over control of a handful of villages in the area, but the Kurds have had to back off because of increasing tensions along the Turkish border.

This has Iraqi officials fearing that, as happened earlier in the Syrian War, ISIS will end up trying to gain ground on both sides of the border. Iraq seems to be counting on sheer numbers to prevent ISIS from entering Iraq’s Anbar Province.