Iraq PM: will chase Islamic State in Iraq and the region
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. File photo
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi vowed on Wednesday to chase Islamic State militants in Iraq as well as in the region.
Abadi, as quoted by his media office, told a gathering of tribesmen in Diwaniyah province that “we will not stop chasing Daesh (acronym for Islamic State) not only in Iraq, but in the region”.
He vowed to make more victories over the militant group. “The mission is not easy, but we shall make another miracle after that of the grand victory”.
News circulated over the past weeks that Iraq was taking its fight against Daesh beyond the borders into neighboring Syria, where the militants are reportedly nearing defeat to Russian-backed Syrian government forces and U.S.-backed Kurdish troops.
Abadi said in a weekly briefing a few weeks ago that his country had ended IS’s presence on its soil, and that plans were there to start the stage of chasing the militants in Syria. But military officials denied later that any incursion was carried out on Syrian soil.
Iraq declared victory over IS militants in December, ending a three-year war to retake territories occupied by the group. Iraqi officials, on several occasions, had reiterated they would not take military action against the group in Syria without approval from the Syrian government.