ISIS attack on Syria-Iraq border wounds four guards, Iraqi military says

At least four security forces at a border checkpoint between Iraq and Syria were wounded in an alleged Islamic State attack, the Iraqi military said on Tuesday.

Iraq’s Security Media Cell said in a statement that “ISIS terrorist gangs carried out an attack on a point belonging to the border guard forces north of the Al-Waleed port with Syria.”

“The terrorist attack resulted in the injury to an officer and three members of the third regiment of the fourth brigade of the Border Guard Forces command,” it added.

Islamic State border attacks occur despite tight security measures imposed by the Iraqi forces on the border to prevent the infiltration of terrorist fighters from neighboring Syria.

Last week, Islamic State remnants launched an attack against an Iraqi border police headquarters at the Iraq-Syria border, killing two people and wounding two others.

Iraq’s security media cell said in a statement that “terrorist elements” attacked “the third regiment in the fourth border police brigade within the Iraqi-Syrian borders.”

The terrorist group also seems to be encouraged by the escalating US-Iran tensions in the region as the Islamic State continues to launch attacks and attempts to re-establish a foothold in Iraq.

In the wake of escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran, the US-led Coalition against the Islamic State announced it was suspending operations against the terrorist group to focus on ensuring the security of the military bases in Iraq from which its troops operate.