Iraqi forces readying to seal Syrian border![]() April 10, 2018 - 11:25 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The Iraqi military is preparing for a major operation that is meant to officially seal off the Iraqi-Syrian border 'once and for all', Al-Masdar News reports. Led by their Popular Mobilization Units (var. Hashd Al-Sha’abi), the Iraqi military has deployed a large number of personnel to the western countryside of the Al-Anbar Governorate. The Iraqi military will attempt to clear all of the Islamic State’s (IS) sleeper cells around the Deir ez-Zor-Anbar axis, which would be a difficult task without cooperation from the Syrian Army and Kurdish-led forces. According to local reports in Deir ez-Zor, the Iraqi military will be launching the operation in coordination with the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), marking the first time during the war that either entity has worked together. ![]() ![]() Azerbaijani authorities report that they have already resettled 3,000 people in the Nagorno-Karabakh town of Stepanakert. On June 10, Azerbaijani President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev will leave for Turkey on a working visit. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. ![]() ![]() Partner news | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |