After taking the Al Waleed border crossing between Iraq and Syria late last month, the jihadist group has released photos proving that they are indeed in control of the crossing. In the photo report, the Islamic State says that they further destroyed the "phantom Sykes-Picot borders."
The photos were produced by the Islamic State's Wilayat al Furat (Euphrates Province), which incorporates the crossing, as well as the Iraqi town of al Qaim on the Syrian border.
Last month, I covered this over at The Long War Journal, which you can read by clicking here. AFP reported that “Daesh (an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State) took control of the Al Waleed post on the border between Iraq and Syria after the withdrawal of the army and the Iraqi border police.” The official went on to say that the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) personnel withdrew to the Trebil border crossing with Jordan.
This comes after the Islamic State previously attacked and briefly controlled al Waleed last year. On Dec. 23, the Islamic State attacked the Al Waleed crossing, killing five members of the Iraqi Border Police. The jihadist group subsequently released photographs from the battle. The jihadist group briefly controlled al Waleed for two days between June 22-24, 2014.
With the Islamic State controlling Al Waleed, the governments of Iraq and Syria no longer control the crossing between the two countries. The Islamic State also controls the crossing between Albu Kamal and al Qaim and the Kurdish YPG controls the crossing between al Yarobiyyi and Rabia. As of the writing of this post, the governments of Iraq and Jordan still control of the Trebil border crossing between those two countries.
Photos released by the Islamic State from al Waleed:
- Caleb