Nine rifles seized in truck from Syria at Qaim crossing

ANBAR — Border authorities seized nine Kalashnikov rifles hidden in a truck arriving from Syria at the Qaim crossing and arrested the Iraqi driver, the Border Ports Commission said Tuesday.

The weapons were found during an inspection carried out with the Customs Police Center. The commission did not say where the shipment was bound or whether further arrests were expected.

The seizure comes as Iraq’s Joint Operations Command investigates a larger case in the other direction. It said this month it had formed a high-level committee, on Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s instruction, to look into a Syrian operation that intercepted a weapons shipment allegedly being smuggled across the border. Syria’s Interior Ministry said it had foiled an attempt to move what it called advanced weapons and missiles across the Iraqi-Syrian frontier, and its state news agency SANA, citing a ministry source, said preliminary investigations indicated the shipment was to transit Syria for Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Iraq has three main land crossings with Syria. Qaim-Albukamal in Anbar is the busiest for passengers and goods. Waleed, also in Anbar, reopened on April 2 after 11 years and is used mainly for energy transport and trade. Rabia handled three commercial trucks from Syria in early May, the first trade through that route in about 13 years.