On 4 March, the soldiers were being escorted to the al-Waleed border crossing further south in Anbar province when they were ambushed near the town of Akashat, Iraqi officials said.
Mendes Junior projects in Iraq included the constructions of the Baghdad-Al Qaim-Akashat railway, the Iraq Expressway Number One (the largest controlled-access highway in the Middle East) and a pumping station on the Euphrates River.