An Iraqi military source reported that hundreds of Syrian army personnel withdrawing from the ongoing fighting with armed factions have entered Iraqi territory, specifically through the Al-Qaim border crossing in the west of the country .
The source said “More than 1,500 soldiers and officers in the Syrian army entered Iraqi territory after being allowed to enter from the Iraqi side .”
He pointed out that “allowing them to enter Iraqi territory came due to the tense situation in Syria .”
The source also pointed out that all the Iraqi Shiite factions that were present in Albu Kamal also entered the Iraqi borders after being allowed by the Iraqi side .
In light of the developments taking place on the ground, the Western Nineveh Operations Command, represented by the 15th Infantry Division and the 20th Infantry Division, began redeploying on the Iraqi-Syrian border strip from Rabia District to Sinjar after the arrival of additional armored units to reinforce the support of the border forces holding the sector of responsibility .
At the end of last November, armed factions, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra), invaded villages and towns in Aleppo province controlled by the Syrian government, continuing their advance and imposing their control over the province as well as other large areas in Syria .
In late 2016, Syrian army forces, backed by Russia, Iran and loyalist armed factions in the region, recaptured the entire city of Aleppo, and opposition fighters agreed to withdraw after months of bombardment and siege in a battle that turned the tide against the opposition .
Iraq fears the return of the mid-2014 scenario, when ISIS was able to control areas estimated at a third of the country, against the backdrop of the extension of the conflict in Syria between the regime and the opposition factions .
The armed organizations opposed to Assad had called on the Iraqi government not to engage in the developments taking place in Syria, and that they would form a government of institutions if the regime was toppled, but Baghdad rejected those calls and said that it does not deal with terrorist groups.
