Ƶ

Iraq to continue striking Daesh targets in Syria, Abadi says

Iraq to continue striking Daesh targets in Syria, Abadi says
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi. (REUTERS)
Updated 08 March 2017

Iraq to continue striking Daesh targets in Syria, Abadi says

Iraq to continue striking Daesh targets in Syria, Abadi says

IRAQ: Iraq will continue to hit Daesh targets in Syria, as well as in neighboring countries if they give their approval, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi said on Wednesday.
“I respect the sovereignty of states, and I have secured the approval of Syria to strike positions (on its territory),” he told a conference in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya.
Abadi on Feb. 24 announced the first Iraqi air strike inside Syrian territory, targeting Daesh positions in retaliation for bomb attacks in Baghdad.
“I will not hesitate to strike the positions of the terrorists in the neighboring countries, we will keep on fighting them,” Abadi said.
The total damage to property and infrastucture caused by Daesh is about $35 billion, he said.
The hard-line group has lost most Iraqi cities in captured in northern and western Iraq in 2014 and 2015 and is now fighting off a US-backed offensive on its last major urban stronghold, in the city of Mosul. The group also controls parts of Syria.