Najaf: Brigade 87 deployment secures Shabakah badiyah and holds border with Saudi Arabia

The director of the Shabakah subdistrict in Najaf province, Kadhim al-Abbaiji, said the security situation in the Najaf badiyah is stable and no breaches were recorded after the deployment of Brigade 87 affiliated with the Badiyah Operations Command.

Al-Abbaiji explained that the Badiyah Operations Command secured all badiyah areas according to a planned security scheme, and that the Iraqi border with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is held and fully secured.

He added that the security agencies rely on advanced monitoring technologies, including thermal cameras that allow detection of movements and monitoring of desert and border areas, which enhances follow-up and security engagement measures.

He indicated that responsibility for holding the ground in the badiyah is carried out by forces of Brigade 87 alongside border police personnel and members of the Shabakah subdistrict police station and other security agencies, within a joint coordination framework to secure the area and preserve its stability.

He pointed out that the Shabakah subdistrict enjoys an important border geographic location, as it lies on the border with Saudi Arabia and its areas extend toward Anbar and Muthanna provinces, which makes securing its desert expanses and monitoring its borders a priority for security work.

He affirmed that the deployment of security forces and the use of modern monitoring technologies contribute to strengthening security control over the badiyah and protecting border areas from any potential breaches.

In August, a security source in Muthanna province reported the formation of a Badiyah Operations Command to secure the desert areas in Muthanna and Najaf provinces adjacent to the Saudi border after Popular Mobilization Forces units were withdrawn from them. The source said the new formation includes three brigades and is responsible for securing the badiyah of the Naqra al-Salman district and the Basiya subdistrict in Muthanna as well as the Shabakah badiyah in Najaf, and is commanded by Major General Imad al-Maliki.

The border file returned to the forefront amid tensions between Baghdad and Riyadh, after Saudi Arabia announced it had been subjected to attacks by drones it said were launched from Iraqi territory. That was followed by a joint Saudi-American strike that targeted locations affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Forces and caused dozens of dead and wounded, prompting the Iraqi government to take a series of rapid measures to prevent the use of Iraqi territory to launch attacks on neighboring countries.