Ministry of Defense confirms arrival of 5 new Sukhoi aircraft to Iraq

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The media adviser to the Ministry of Defense, Mohammed al-Askari said, in an interview for IraqiNews.com, that: “five new Russian Sukhoi aircraft arrived at Iraq today.”

He added that: “the rest of the contracted aircraft will arrive in the coming days, respectively”.

On June 29, 2014, The Iraqi Ministry of Defense had already announced the arrival of five Russian fighter jets to enhance the combat capability of the Iraqi Army against the organization of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Iraq.

It was reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin, had telephoned PM al-Maliki on 20 June to express the readiness of his country to support Baghdad with various heavy weapons and long-range missiles.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia hopes to strengthen the military-technical cooperation with Iraq, noting that Moscow and Baghdad have taken new and serious steps to improve the cooperation. It was agreed to supply the Iraqi government of fighter jets.