Saudi Arabia has reportedly deployed 30,000 soldiers to secure its border with Iraq, which is currently battling against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis).
The deployment comes after Iraqi security forces abandoned their posts, exposing the Saudi and Syrian frontiers to potential threats, the state-owned al-Arabiya news channel reported.
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The Dubai-based channel aired a video showing some 2,500 Iraqi troops in the desert region located east of Kerbala, following the alleged withdrawal.
One of the officials in the video said that the Iraqi Government had ordered the soldiers to leave their positions along the borders without any justification.
The authenticity of the footage could not be immediately verified.
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In addition, a General Military Council for Iraqi Revolutionaries spokesperson was quoted by the Financial Times as saying: "The militias and security forces of the Iraqi Government from the western border [with Saudi Arabia] have withdrawn because of the advances of the revolutionaries."
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By GlobalDataHowever, Iraq denied the withdrawal reports, and insisted that the frontier remains ‘fully in the grip’ of Iraqi border forces.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s military spokesperson lieutenant general Qassim Atta said: "This is false news aimed at affecting the morale of our people and the morale of our heroic fighters."
Saudi Arabia shares an 800km border with the war-torn country, which largely runs through empty desert and is secured by a system of fences, Reuters reported.
Saudi Arabian Interior Ministry security spokesperson major general Mansour Turki said: "We have not experienced any insecurity close to our border, and our border is secured and protected long before the latest events in Iraq."
Iraqi security forces are currently trying to defeat Isis militants, who have taken control of several major Iraqi cities, including Mosul and Tikrit.
