Iraq has tightened security along its border with Syria, stepping up intelligence and military measures to counter the risk of an Islamic State resurgence, after reports that around 200 low-level Islamic State suspects escaped from Syria's Shaddadi prison this week.
The heightened alert follows a rapid shift in control inside Syria, where government forces have taken over prisons previously guarded by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, holding thousands of Islamic State fighters.
While Syrian government forces say many escaped suspects were recaptured, Iraqi officials say the incident underscores the continued risk posed by instability across the border.
Military vehicles line the Iraqi-Syrian border, Iraqi flags raised high and weapons at the ready. Border forces say security here is at its tightest level in years.
"We have built five integrated layers of border barriers -- starting with earth embankments, then trenches, barbed obstacles, BRC fencing (roll-top welded fence), and finally a concrete wall. These are advanced defensive systems. The Iraqi-Syrian border has never seen barriers like this before. All of them are supported by electronic surveillance, with the entire area covered by thermal cameras," said Brigadier General Ali Rashid, commander of the Sixth Region Command of the Iraqi Border Guard Forces.
"There is no such thing as a normal daily life for us. Ours is a 24-hour, constant state of readiness. We don't just start in the morning and rest at night. We remain alert throughout the week, the month, the year. This is a life of continuous vigilance," said Commissioner Ali Farhan Jabr of the 19th Brigade under the Sixth Region Command.
Along the front line, Iraqi border troops say the threat has strengthened their resolve -- as they work around the clock to reassure the public that the border remains secure.
"The message we want to send to our people is that your sons are deployed along the border, and the situation is under control. We want to reassure them: we are here. Anyone who attempts to cross our borders will be dealt with," said a border soldier named Qutaiba Mish'al Ahmad.
At the same time, the United States has begun transferring Islamic State detainees from prisons in Syria to Iraq, with plans to move up to 7,000 in the coming days. U.S. officials say the transfers are aimed at preventing further prison breakouts, as Iraq prepares to prosecute detainees under its legal system.
With regional security at stake, Iraq's border forces are expected to remain on high alert in the months ahead.
Iraqi border forces on high alert after Islamic State suspects escape from Syria
Smart technologies have reshaped China's ecological and environmental monitoring system, Huang Runqiu, minister of Ecology and Environment, said Thursday in Beijing on the sidelines of the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress(NPC).
"Regarding ecological and environmental monitoring, we have been promoting the digitalization, informatization, and intelligentization of the entire monitoring process in recent years, reshaping the ecological and environmental monitoring system. For instance, in water environment monitoring and sampling, we have used intelligent drones which can quickly locate sampling points, collect samples accurately, return rapidly, and they are safe and reliable, improving work efficiency by over 70 percent. They are particularly advantageous for sampling during flood seasons and in remote areas," Huang told the press.
"In terms of environmental sample analysis, we have developed 'lights-out laboratories' in recent years. As the name suggests, these labs operate without lights and are unattended. Through robotic arms, robots, and intelligent management systems, they achieve full-process automation and intelligence from sample handover, testing, and analysis to report generation. This has significantly enhanced work efficiency, increasing it by more than eightfold compared to traditional labs. More importantly, it reduces human interference, human error, and even data falsification," he said.
Thanks to the improved ecological and environmental supervision capabilities, the number of environmental violation cases nationwide has decreased from 130,000 five years ago to 43,000 last year, representing a decline of 68 percent, Huang said.
The minister said China has already applied environmental DNA technology in the biodiversity monitoring work.
"In the field of biodiversity monitoring, monitoring aquatic organisms remains a weak point. However, significant progress has been made in recent years as we have developed environmental DNA technology. Although this chip is very small in size, it contains DNA detection information for aquatic organisms, including the finless porpoise and the Chinese sucker, from 19 state-controlled sections in the Jiangsu segment of the Yangtze River. The results showed that over the past five years, more than 20 species of aquatic organisms have increased in this river section, fully demonstrating the tangible effectiveness of the ten-year fishing ban in the Yangtze River," Huang said while showing a chip to reporters.
The 14th NPC, China's national legislature, concluded its fourth session on Thursday.
Smart technologies reshape China's ecological, environmental monitoring system: minister
