Syria's Assad authorizes Iraqi forces to strike IS in Syria

[Right_in_Virginia]

Syria's Assad authorizes Iraqi forces to strike IS in Syria
Washington Times, Dec 30, 2018, ALBERT AJI   - Associated Press

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Syrian President Bashar Assad authorized Iraqi forces on Sunday to attack the Islamic State group inside Syria without waiting for permission from authorities in Damascus, the state news agency SANA said, as the two allies coordinate their fight against extremists ahead of a planned U.S. withdrawal from Syria.

The announcement highlights the close relations between the two neighboring Arab countries that are both allied with Iran. IS once controlled large parts of both countries when it declared a caliphate in 2014.

Iraqi warplanes and artillery have in the past pounded IS positions inside Syria after getting the green light from Syrian authorities.

The extremists have been defeated in Iraq but still hold a small area in Syria close to the Iraqi border.

On Saturday Assad received a letter from Iraq’s Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi calling for both countries’ coordination in “fighting terrorism.”


More:  https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/dec/30/syrias-assad-authorizes-iraqi-forces-to-strike-is-/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS

[kevindavis007]

I thought that ISIS was wiped out.

[Smokin Joe]

Let them take out their own trash. Assad doesn't want IS in Syria, either. No leader would.