ISIS terrorists have ambushed Iraqi troops in the vicinity of the Arar border crossing with Saudi Arabia, which is set to reopen soon.
The Arar border crossing, which is located south of the western province of al-Anbar, is the main gate between Iraq and the Kingdom.
The ambush, which targeted a unit of Iraqi border guards, took place on September 2. According to a statement by ISIS’ news agency, Amaq, seven service members were killed and at least five others were injured, including a major named “Ali al-Malki.”
ISIS terrorists also destroyed three military vehicles and seized several weapons before withdrawing to their hideouts in al-Anabar’s desert.
Click to see full-size map, Via Google Maps, TerraMetrics
The attack came amid reports of a near Saudi-Iraqi agreement to open the Arar crossing, which has been closed for most of the time since the Gulf War in 1990. Iraqi and Saudi officials met to discuss the matter on September 4 and agreed to take faster steps to reopen the crossing.
ISIS, which is highly active throughout al-Anbar, is apparently worried of a possible rapprochement between Iraq and Saudi Arabia.