The Media Line: As the Concrete Curtain Rises: Iraq’s New Border Wall Cuts Off Militias, Splits Border Tribes 

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

As the Concrete Curtain Rises: Iraq’s New Border Wall Cuts Off Militias, Splits Border Tribes 

Iraq’s leaders frame new border fortifications as defense against smuggling, insurgents, and cross-border militias 

By Hudhaifa Ebrahim / The Media Line 

Iraqi authorities have announced the completion of 350 kilometers of a concrete security wall along the Iraqi-Syrian border. The project began in 2022, ahead of the anticipated fall of the Assad regime, which eventually occurred in December 2024. 

In an official statement published by the Iraqi News Agency, the Iraqi Border Guard Command said that “work is ongoing to close security gaps between Iraq and Syria to prevent infiltration and smuggling operations between the two countries.” 

The statement added that the fortifications will eventually cover 618 kilometers (384 miles) of the border, reinforced by a range of defenses, including a 3-meter-wide and 3-meter-deep trench, a 3-meter-high earthen berm, and BRC-type welded wire mesh fencing. 

According to the statement, “The wall also includes observation towers spaced one kilometer apart, equipped with advanced thermal cameras linked to a central monitoring center. The border fortifications do not rely solely on the concrete wall but rather form part of an integrated defense network that includes trenches, barbed wire, early warning systems, thermal cameras, and 24/7 day and night surveillance equipment.” 

Planned in 2021, the project began implementation in 2022 and initially covered only 170 kilometers of specific border areas—approximately one third of the frontier—where Islamic State group operatives were crossing. 

Construction of the border wall started in the area north of the Euphrates River, a region of difficult and rugged terrain, stretching from Mount Sinjar in Nineveh Governorate to the town of Qa’im in Al Anbar Governorate. 

The newly announced phase of the wall covers more than 100 kilometers north and south of the Euphrates River, including the Al-Tarifawi area facing the Syrian city of Al Bukamal. 

Iran Has Lost Syria Forever 

Awad al-Fardan, an Iraqi politician, told The Media Line, “This new expansion sends one political message: Iran now sees Syria as no longer part of the ‘Fertile Crescent’ project it has been talking about for years.” 

“This is not just about smuggling operations or the entry of Islamic State operatives or other terrorist organizations,” he continued. “It is about a long-term strategy, and widening the wall means that Iran views itself as having lost Syria permanently.” 

According to al-Fardan, Syrian operatives have been organizing smuggling operations and crossing the Iraqi-Syrian border since 2003, with the knowledge of the Iraqi state and Shiite militias. He said this border served as the main corridor for Iranian-backed Shiite militias fighting alongside the Assad regime and for supplying Hezbollah in Lebanon with weapons. 

“Today, this corridor is being closed permanently,” he said. 

Mohammed al-Khayyat, a retired Iraqi army officer, told The Media Line that there had long been calls for a security wall between Iraq and Syria, but that the main obstacle was budget constraints rather than political disagreement. 

“It was difficult to control the border, and we started with the most volatile areas, those with the highest smuggling activity. Now, the project covers the entire border strip,” he said. 

The Wall Separates Families 

The border areas near Qa’im are home to many families from tribes such as Al-Uqaydat, Al-Rawi, and Anizah, with relatives living on both sides of the frontier. 

These families once visited each other and exchanged goods without using official crossings, since their villages were only tens of kilometers apart. Using the formal border crossing meant traveling hundreds of kilometers out of their way. 

Mohammed al-Rawi, a resident of the Qa’im border area, told The Media Line, “I have cousins on the other side of the border, and we used to visit each other weekly. The road is rough, but it is only a few kilometers.” 

“Now I’m more than 50 kilometers from the nearest border crossing, and I need to get my passport stamped and obtain a visa, which is only valid for a limited time. My cousins also need visas to enter Iraq, something that wasn’t necessary before,” he said. 

“We are cousins, from the same grandfather, but during the border demarcations between Iraq and Syria, they became Syrian citizens and we became Iraqi citizens, even though we are the same family,” he added. 

On the other side of the border, Samir al-Uqaydat, a Syrian citizen of Iraqi origin, told The Media Line that the Al-Uqaydat clan has family in both Iraq and Syria and that they had always crossed the border with the knowledge of border guards and other official authorities. He stressed that none of his relatives had ever been involved in smuggling or any other illegal activity. 

“Even during the American invasion of Iraq, there were American forces present, and they knew us,” he said. “We would cross to their side and return after completing our visits or other activities without any problems. Now the situation will be different, and family ties will be cut because we need to obtain entry visas, and the same applies to our cousins on the Iraqi side.” 

Cutting Off Iranian Supplies 

Since 2003, this border has seen the passage of hundreds of thousands of fighters, weapons, and equipment. Numerous dirt roads were paved to serve as routes for trucks, armored vehicles, and other military cargo moving across the frontier. 

It was also the primary route for supplying Iranian-backed militias in Syria, which fought alongside the Assad regime, as well as for arming Hezbollah in Lebanon. 

Ali al-Karbouli, an activist from Anbar province, told The Media Line that the smuggling operations being discussed “were carried out with the knowledge of the state. That was basically how the authorities handed the Syrian arena over to these militias.” 

“Now these militias can’t cross,” he said. “On the other side, there are thousands of fighters from the new Syrian state who are preventing the militias from reaching their goal of supporting the fallen Assad regime or even Hezbollah.” 

“We used to see the vehicles moving with the Popular Mobilization Forces, or even the Iraqi army or National Guard and other security forces, who would escort them as they crossed into Syria. Since the fall of the Assad regime, we no longer see them, so the issue now goes far beyond just maintaining the border,” he added.