Iraqi military’s artillery targets Islamic State locations in Syria

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi military’s artillery has shelled Islamic State locations on Syrian lands, a senior officer from Jazeera Operations Command was quoted saying on Saturday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the officer said “the army’s artillery bombarded Islamic State pockets 10 kilometers in the depth of Syrian lands.”

The target behind the shelling in Syria “is to paralyze the militants there and deliver a message that security troops are ready to eradicate in case they attacked the troops,” the officer told Almaalomah website.

“Security plans are drawn to target Islamic State members, in case they approached the Iraqi lands,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Nineveh Operations Command has denied presence of any militant on the common borders, west of Mosul.

In remarks to BasNews, Maj. Gen. Najm al-Jabouri, the commander, said “the joint Iraqi troops are deployed along the Iraqi-Syrian borders to prevent infiltration of Islamic State members from the border crossing, which links Baaj and Rabi’a regions.”

Jabouri indicated stable security situation after raiding several regions, where no militants were observed.

Thousands of Islamic State militants as well as Iraqi civilians were killed since the government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition was launched in October 2016.

In December, the Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced gaining control on all the territories that were captured by Islamic State, since 2014.