Earlier in the day, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced the launch of airstrikes on Daesh in Syria. According to him, the operation was linked to recent Baghdad attacks.
“The strike by the Iraqi Air Force against terrorist positions on the territory of Syria was carried out in full coordination with the Syrian government,” Al-Watan newspaper reported citing sources.
The attack on terrorist positions in Syria’s Al Bukamal city near the border with Iraq has been carried out as a part of the operation to liberate Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, which has been under Daesh’s control since June 2014. On Sunday, Abadi announced the start of the operations to free the western part of Mosul.
Iraqi and US-led coalition forces liberated the eastern part of the city in January, but the city’s western part still remains under the control of the terror group.