BALADI NEWS
Pro-Syrian regime forces are conducting a joint operation with Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units), sweeping Syria’s eastern desert near the Iraq border for ISIS cells, The Defense Post reported.
The operation brought together units from Syria’s National Defense Forces militias, Syrian Arab Army regulars, Lebanese Hezbollah, and Iraqi PMUs on both sides of the border, The Defense Post added.
The NDF claimed its participation on social media on Friday.
“The Syrian [Arab] Army and the National Defense Forces in Deir Ezzor in cooperation with the Iraqi Army and [other Iraqi] forces, are participating in combing the border strip between Syria and Iraq, departing from the city of Al-Bukamal towards the outskirts of the Tanf oil field,” an NDF statement read, according to The Defense Post.
The area is considered strategic for moving personnel and equipment from Iraq into Syria via the Qaim border crossing.
If the NDF’s claims are accurate, the operation would put Syrian government and Iran-backed forces in close proximity to the Coalition’s declared 55-km zone around al-Tanf.
The Coalition has carried out airstrikes against pro-regime forces approaching the zone in the past.