Damascus – An Iraqi military source told +963 on Wednesday that units of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) – an umbrella group of mostly Iran-backed militias – have vacated several of their positions along the Syrian border.
According to the source, the PMF withdrew from four key sites near the frontier and pulled back from the second defensive line they had advanced to earlier this week. The source added that the group also relocated heavy weaponry from its bases to an undisclosed location.
The move coincides with intensified military activity on the Iraqi side of the border, where senior army commanders held a high-level meeting earlier in the day.
The source further reported that the skies over Syria’s eastern desert, near the border with Iraq, have recently seen nightly flights of unidentified drones originating from Iraqi territory.
Two days earlier, Iraq’s Defence Minister, Thabit al-Abbasi, said he had received a call from U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who informed him of imminent military operations in the region. According to al-Abbasi, Hegseth warned that the planned operations would take place on the Syrian side of the border and cautioned Iran-aligned groups in Iraq against interfering, stressing that the U.S. would respond forcefully to any such actions.
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Last month, a Syrian military source revealed to +963 that government reinforcements from the Syrian Defence Ministry had arrived in the border town of Al-Bukamal, in eastern Deir ez-Zor province, following advances by PMF units toward the second defensive line along the frontier.
The developments come amid ongoing security coordination between Baghdad and Damascus to contain remnants of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) that continue to operate in desert regions straddling the two countries.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein recently emphasised the importance of strengthening bilateral cooperation to combat these threats, while also reiterating Iraq’s policy of non-interference in neighbouring states. He noted that regional stability directly affects Iraq’s own security, adding that Baghdad continues to support a comprehensive political settlement in Syria that includes all social and ethnic groups.
