Iraqi planes hit militants in Syria

Baghdad and Damascus cooperate in air operation to strike common adversary

BAGHDAD // The Iraqi air force struck ISIL members inside neighbouring Syria yesterday, officials said, adding that the targeted militants were responsible for recent bombings in Baghdad.

The attack was announced by prime minister Haider Al Abadi and is believed to be the first of its kind by Iraqi jets on Syrian territory.

“We ordered the air force command to strike Daesh terrorist sites in Husseibeh and Albu Kamal, in Syrian territory,” Mr Al Abadi said.

“We are determined to track down terrorists trying to kill our sons and citizens wherever they are.”

A source close to the Syrian foreign ministry said the Iraqi strike had been coordinated with the government in Damascus, according to newspaper Al Watan, which is close to the regime. Both Husseibeh and Albu Kamal are very close to the Iraqi-Syrian border and lie in the Euphrates Valley, facing the western Iraqi town of Al Qaim.

Husseibeh is a town in Iraq but an area that lies on the Syrian side of the border bears the same name.

ISIL has lost most of its urban bastions in the vast western province of Anbar since Iraqi forces mounted a counter-offensive after the capture by the extremists of about a third of the country in 2014. The Joint Operations Command coordinating the fight against ISIL in Iraq released video footage of the attack.

“Baghdad witnessed terrorist attacks using car bombs in Bayaa and Habibiyah,” the JOC said, referring to bombings that killed dozens last week in the Iraqi capital.

“After a few days of investigation, [ the security forces] reached them (those responsible for the attack) and found their location,” the JOC said. “Their hideouts were completely destroyed.” The February 16 car bomb blast in Bayaa killed 52 people and was the deadliest such attack in Baghdad since a suicide lorry bomber in the Karrada neighbourhood killed more than 320 in July last year.

A security official said the strike was the first time Iraqi aircraft had hunted ISIL targets across the border in Syria.