Iraq begins construction of fence along Syrian border to keep out Isis fighters
Baghdad declared victory over the militants last year, but fighters continue to launch attacks deep inside supposedly secure areas of the country
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Your support makes all the difference.Iraq is building a new security fence along its long desert border with Syria, the latest attempt to stop Isis fighters entering the country.
Construction of the first 20 km (12.4 miles) of barbed wire fence and six-metre-wide trench began last week, Anbar governorate spokesperson Anwar Hamid Nayef said.
The barrier will also use surveillance towers, thermal cameras and drones to spot potential militants trying to cross into the country.
If the initial section near the border town of al Qaim is evaluated as effective by Baghdad and US security officials, the fence will be extended across the entire 370 mile border, Mr Nayef added.
Isis controlled around one third of Iraq at the height of its power in 2014 after it managed to cross over from Syria to ambush the Iraqi army in the northern city of Mosul, declaring the creation of a so-called caliphate across the two countries. It controlled several major cities and reached as far as the outskirts of Baghdad.
While Iraq officially declared victory over Isis in December last year, the group has morphed into an insurgency based in the desert which stretches between eastern Syria and western Iraq.
Militants maintain sleeper cells inside Iraqi cities and continue to carry out terrorist attacks against the security services as well as civilians: the bodies of eight kidnapped men were found along a highway north of Baghdad last week.
The US-led international coalition against Isis, as well as the Iraqi air force, continues to launch airstrikes on Isis territory and targets inside the country.
Hundreds of men, women and minors remain in jails across Iraq awaiting trial for being members of Isis. At least 117 people were executed by hanging in 2017 - most after evidence gathering and trials which human rights groups said fell far below international standards.
Also on Sunday, Iraqi media reported a car bomb killed one person and injured 20 more at the site of an election ballot box warehouse in the mixed Arab-Kurdish city of Kirkuk.
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