Commander of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces Brigadier General Ahmadreza Pourdastan in a part of his interview with Army’s ‘Saf’ Magazine, said General Staff of the Armed Forces has determined a 40-kilometer redline on borders for countering the threats of Takfiri terrorist groups, adding “if we feel that the Takfiri militants plan to cross this redline, we reserve the right for ourselves to enter the battlefield and counter their attacks.”
“In 2014, ISIL, in a short period of time, went from Iraq’s al-Anbar Province to Diyala Province which shares borders with our provinces of Kermanshah and Ilam,” Pourdastan said. “On the other hand, a number of the terrorists entered Jalawla and Saadia, and were planning to get close to Khanaqin which is only 12 kilometers away from our borders; that’s when our Ground Forces went into action and engaged the terrorists in a fierce battle.”
He went on to add, “for countering the threat, five operating divisions began identifying terrorist forces across the borders. We were fully prepared to engage them in battle should they trespass the 40km redline.”
“The Army’s helicopters were going rounds right above them and our intelligence agents had gotten close enough to identify them. The paths were determined by positioning systems so that we would open fire on them if they got any nearer,” said Pourdastan, adding “of course, these operations were not broadcast by media outlets, but it deterred ISIL from their plans.”
According to the Army commander, there are still traces of ISIL support in Iraqi province of Diyala.
“We are also facing such threats in the eastern part of the country due to the presence of ISIL on Afghanistan and Pakistan borders,” Pourdastan said, adding “they wish to get close to our borders but we are fully equipped and prepared to counter any terrorist threats.”
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