Damascus/Baghdad, Jan 21, (dpa/GNA) – As fighting in north-eastern Syria was easing, concerns were growing on Wednesday about an escalation in neighbouring Iraq.
An explosion at an arms depot in the Syrian town of al-Yaarubiyah on the border between the two countries, was reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
A massive blast rocked the area. Local sources said seven fighters allied with government forces were killed and 18 others were wounded.
The Syrian Arab Army Operations Command told the Syrian News Agency (SANA) that the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been booby-trapping mosques, many of which have been found rigged with explosives and placed in inappropriate locations.
They said that the SDF have also booby-trapped doors, passageways and tunnels, and placed explosives disguised as rocks and building bricks.
They have also booby-trapped household furniture and vehicles in most of their former positions, the army command said, urging civilians to immediately report any suspicious object or furniture out of place and to contact the deployed military and security units in their areas.
Security along the 600-kilometre border between the two countries has been reinforced on the Iraqi side, a spokesman for the joint operations command told the news site An-Nahar.
The area is “completely secured” and there is “no indication of any serious threats” in Iraq, the spokesman said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani visited the border town of al-Qaim on Wednesday to assess the readiness of Iraqi security forces, the state news agency INA reported.
In north-eastern Syria, the situation remains tense despite a supposedly agreed-upon ceasefire.
GNA