Iraq launches air strike against Daesh in Syria

An image grab taken from a video released by the Iraqi Security Media Centre early on May 25, 2018, shows an airstrike by the Iraqi air force targeting a huge building in the Syrian area of Hajin, near the border with Iraq. (FIle photo: AFP)

• F-16 fighter jets destroyed a building where members of the ultra-hard-line group’s leadership were operating
• Daesh, which once occupied a third of Iraq’s territory, has been largely defeated in the country but still poses a threat along its border with Syria

BAGHDAD: Iraq launched an air strike on a Daesh target inside neighboring Syria on Thursday, the military said.
F-16 fighter jets destroyed a building where members of the ultra-hard-line group’s leadership were operating, it said in a statement.
Daesh, which once occupied a third of Iraq’s territory, has been largely defeated in the country but still poses a threat along its border with Syria.
“Iraqi F-16 jets bombed this morning on Thursday a so-called command and control center containing leaders and fighters belonging to the Daesh terrorist gang in the Hajjin inside Syrian territory,” the statement said.
The Iraqi air force has carried out several air strikes against Daesh in Syria since last year, with the approval of the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad and the US-led coalition fighting Daesh.
Iraq has good relations with Iran and Russia, Assad’s main backers in the Syrian civil war, while also enjoying strong support from the US-led coalition.
Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi declared final victory over Daesh in December but it still operates from pockets along the border with Syria and has continued to carry out ambushes, assassinations and bombings across Iraq.
Daesh has resorted to guerrilla tactics since it abandoned its goal of holding territory and creating a self-sufficient caliphate that straddles Iraq and Syria.