Iraq says Syrian air force hit IS in Syria based on Iraqi intelligence
Xinhua, April 15, 2017 Adjust font size:
The Syrian aircraft carried out airstrikes on the positions of Islamic State (IS) militants inside Syria based on Iraqi intelligence reports for the first time since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, the Iraqi military said on Saturday.
A statement by the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said that the Iraqi intelligence information was shared with the Syrian side through a committee formed in 2015 that includes Russia, Syria, Iran and Iraq.
The Syrian air force conducted airstrikes on IS positions and headquarters in the major IS stronghold in Raqqa, the town of Albu Kamal and Dshisha village near the Iraqi Syrian border, the statement said without saying when exactly the attacked were carried out.
The airstrikes destroyed an IS headquarter in Raqqa, in addition to the killing of an IS prominent figure, who is believed to be the military leader of IS group in Raqqa, the statement said.
The airstrikes also destroyed two IS headquarters in Albu Kamal area, as well as bombing dozens of IS militants gathering at Dshisha village preparing to enter Iraq, and killed many of them, the statement added.
The four-side committee is a joint intelligence-sharing cooperation between Russia, Syria, Iran and Iraq. It was formed in September 2015 with operation rooms in Syria's Damascus and Iraq's Green Zone in central Baghdad. Endit