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UNITED NATIONS - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday his country has been coordinating with the Kurdish forces battling Islamic State militants in Iraq and has been sending arms to them through the central government in Baghdad.
Lavrov said a joint information center has been set up in Baghdad for cooperation between regional countries taking part in the war against ISIS, as the Islamic State is known.
“Military representatives from Iraq, Iran, Syria and Russia and the Kurdish government are with this information center which we established in Baghdad,” Lavrov told Rudaw at a press conference at the United Nations.
Russian aircraft have carried out dozens of missions in Syria since Monday following Moscow’s announcement it will directly join the fight against ISIS militants.
Various media reports have said the Russian airstrikes also targeted anti-regime forces of the Free Syrian Army, which is largely supported by the West.
“ISIS is not like Al-Qaida who often fled after attacking an area,” Lavrov said. “ISIS controls these areas to establish a caliphate. They want a caliphate stretching from Portugal to Pakistan,” he added, warning that efforts should concentrate on eradicating the militant group.
Kurdish defense officials told Rudaw they had no knowledge about the information center and had no representative in Baghdad for that purpose.
Ministry of Peshmerga spokesperson Jabar Yawar said they had not being informed about “any cooperation between Iraq, Iran, Syria and Russia” in Baghdad.
At the UN press conference Lavrov also said arms had been shipped to Peshmarga forces.
“We have replied to the Kurdish request regarding armament and send arms to them through Baghdad,” Lavrov told Rudaw.
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