ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi and Syrian border commanders held their first-ever field meeting on Monday in the border town of al-Qaim, in Iraq's western Anbar province, discussing closer security coordination, intelligence sharing, and efforts to strengthen control of the countries' shared frontier, officials from both sides said.
The meeting on Monday brought together Iraqi Border Forces Commander Mohammed Abdulwahab Sukkar and Syrian Border Guard Commander Hassan Abdulghani, along with senior officers from both countries.
The talks focused on "mechanisms for enhancing cooperation and joint coordination between the border forces of the two countries" and explored ways to improve information sharing "contributing to addressing security challenges that may affect the security and stability of the joint border areas,” Iraq's Interior Ministry outlined in a statement.
The meeting comes amid growing security cooperation between Iraq and Syria as both countries seek to secure their long and porous border against smuggling networks and militant activity. The field meeting marked "the first field visit of its kind between the two sides," said the Syrian Defense Ministry in a post on X on Tuesday.
Iraq shares a 618-kilometer border with Syria and its forces conduct daily drone surveillance and continuous border patrols, according to Sabah al-Numan, spokesperson for Iraq's commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
Sukkar stressed "the importance of unifying the efforts of both countries to control shared borders," adding that the meeting "established a set of guidelines to enhance security and stability along the border strip between the two countries."
On his part, Abdulghani said the discussions produced "positive results" that would help improve border security and coordination adding that the measures would "enhance joint coordination and serve the security [interests] of both brotherly nations."
Combating drug-trafficking is a major area of collaboration between Iraq and Syria. In mid-2025, cooperation shifted from monitoring to engaging in cross-border raids, allowing Iraqi security forces to enter Syrian territory to intercept networks smuggling illicit shipments into the country as well as those headed for Gulf markets.
Syria served as a primary manufacturer of Captagon pills under the rule of deposed dictator Bashar Assad, whose brother was believed to have been involved in the business according to former smugglers, officials, intelligence officers, and a pharmaceutical industry insider.
Iraq remains one of the primary hubs and transit routes for Captagon. To date, joint Iraqi-Syrian operations have led to the seizure of more than five million pills since the beginning of 2026.
