ERBIL, Iraq: The
Iraqi army and Sunni tribal
fighters have dislodged Islamic State
from the al-Waleed border crossing into Syria, an
Iraqi military statement said on Saturday.
The capture of al-Waleed removes Islamic State
fighters from the
vicinity of a US
base located on the other side of the border, in Syrian territory.
Aircraft
from the US-led coalition and the
Iraqi air force took part in the operation, the statement said.
Al-Waleed is close to Tanf, a strategic Syrian border crossing with Iraq on the Baghdad-Damascus highway, where US
forces have assisted Syrian rebels trying to recapture territory
from Islamic State.
US
forces have been based at Tanf since last year, in effect preventing Iranian-backed
forces supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
from receiving heavy ******ry
from Iran by using the main highway between Iraq and Syria.
The involvement of
Iraqi Sunni tribal
fighters in the operation to dislodge the militants
from al-Waleed is a**ther indication that Iran will **t yet be able to use the highway.
Pro-Assad
forces in Syria, mainly comprising
Iraqi militias, last week reached the
Iraqi border **rth-east of Tanf, potentially preventing the US-backed rebels
from taking more territory
from Islamic State alongside the border area with Iraq.
In Mosul, where a US-backed offensive against Islamic State on Saturday entered its ninth month, the militants have been squeezed into an enclave on the western bank of the Tigris river.
Islamic State also controls territory along the border with
Syria and urban pockets west and south of Mosul.
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