Saudi expands its buffer zone with Iraq

Saudi Arabia has expanded the buffer zone region along its northern border with Iraq, where the military is fighting in a US-led coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS), official media sources reported.

A local news agency quoted the official spokesperson for the Saudi Arabian National Guard, Mohammad Al-Fahiki, as saying: “The buffer zone along the border has been expanded by 20 kilometres for a period of a year.”

Border patrol police issued a warning to Saudi citizens asking them not to wander near restricted areas, even for grazing and hunting. Saudi Arabia established its buffer zone in September as part of a greater effort to prevent smuggling.

The Kingdom’s border with Iraq is approximately 800 kilometres long. In 2009, officials in Riyadh signed an agreement with the European defence company EADS to begin constructing a sophisticated security fence that will cover all of its borders. Saudi Arabia is participating in the international coalition against ISIS.