Members of the Popular Mobilization Units march during a parade marking the annual al-Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Baghdad, Iraq, July 1, 2016. IMAGE: REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily
The Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (also known as Hashd al-Sha’abi) have declared a state of high alert in western Iraq, according to reports by local media.
“The forces of divisions 17 and 18 of Iraq’s Hashd al-Sha’abi have been stationed along Akashat-al-Qaem international highway from al-Ratabeh Intersection to the West of al-Anbar Province,” Commander of the PMU’s Division 17 Jasem al-Nouri stressed, according to the al-Ma’aloumeh news website .
Al-Nouri revealed that the PMU is working to keep security in this area and added his forces are prepared to confront ISIS attempts to inflitrate from Syria into Iraqi territory.
Pro-PMU sources also accused the US military deployed in the Syrian-Iraqi border area of exploiting ISIS terrorists for own purposes. In particular, the US allegedly allows the remaining ISIS terrorists to cross from the al-Tanf area in Syria and attack PMU units stationed in western Iraq.
The analysis below was originally released by SouthFront August 27, 2017:
