In preparing the Carnival of the Liberated for Dean every week, I read several hundred posts from nearly a hundred Iraqi bloggers including bloggers actually living in Iraq and ex-patriates. As a rule I don’t include the ex-pats in the Carnival. It’s not that the posts aren’t good, it’s just that that’s not the focus of the Carnival.
But I frequently run into some very interesting posts and this is one of them. Baghdad Dweller, an ex-pat Iraqi living in the Netherlands, posted these tips from an “Islamic forum” for prospective jihadis entering Iraq by way of Syria (translated):
“The central border area between Syria’s Dir al-Zur province and Iraq’s al-Anbar province is the entry point most used by the mujahadeen,” says part of a lengthy message, posted on the Islamic “Firdaws” forum on the Internet. The message, entitled “The way towards the country of the two rivers,” a reference to Iraq and the two main rivers flowing through the country – the Tigris and the Euphrates – is signed by someone called al-Muhjhir al-Islami. It bears some resemblance to another message Adnkronos International (AKI) found on the site on 7 June, and may have been compiled by the same author.
[…]
“The Syrian-Iraqi border runs for some 500 kilometres:
Zone A) along the first 230 kilometres in the north where the Kurds live the border is marked by the river Tigris. This is the toughest tract to cross, with frontier patrols deployed every 10 kilometres along the first 130 kilometres.”
Zone B) is the best area in which to cross into Iraq… for the following reasons:
- The strong bonds linking the Arab tribes on both sides of the border.
- The sympathy shown by these people towards the mujahadeen fighters.
- The fervent attachment of these people towards Islam and Arab traditions.
- The hatred they have for the Syrian regime.
- The ties between the local sheiks and those in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait, in particluar with those of the Shamr, al-Bakara, al-Akidat, al-Bukhris tribes…”
- The feeling that they have been abandoned by the Syrian regime which extracts 60 percent of its oil, grain, cotton and barley exports from here, while providing nothing in return…
- Of the 12.2 million people originating from Syria’s Dir al-Zur region, some 350,000 work in the Gulf states, so it is easy for you to befriend them. They will teach you the best way to cross their country to reach Iraq.
It will take you a half-hour walk to reach the Iraqi city of Qaim (population 50,000) if you set off from the densely populated city of al-Bukamal in Syria…
- The high level of intensity in clashes with the Americans is something which is being maintained to keep them occupied and thus ease the task for mujahidin crossing the border…
- Some of the villages along the border are divided into Syrian and Iraqi sectors.
- People in the region speak an Iraqi dialect very similar to the one spoken in the Gulf states.”
Al-Islami urges all would-be insurgents to avoid entering Iraq from the southern “Zone C” that runs along the provinces of Homs in Syria and al-Anbar in Iraq. The area is heavily patrolled by Syrian military units and Damascus has also set up “unofficial prisons” in the area, he warns.
“Most of those arrested on charges of trying to cross the border have been handed over to the Syrian secret agents by the Mufti of Aleppo, Ahmad Hasun, known as one of the deadliest enemies of the Salafite Jihadist faction,” the message says.
Besides describing the routes in great detail, the message also incorporates practical tips on bed and boarding arrangements.
“Don’t carry a lot of cash with you, the area [zone B] is economical and you’ll only need 300 US dollars to lodge for 15 days at a four star hotel. Petrol costs 10 dollars for a jerry-can,” the message explains.
