ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq’s Air Force carried out an airstrike against ISIS in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor province. Iraqi F-16 fighter jets targeted a building used by ISIS leaders near the town of Susah in the Euphrates River valley, the air force announced on Monday. It said the airstrike hit a meeting of some 30 ISIS members and “destroyed” the target. The mission was done on orders from Commander-in-Chief Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi. The Iraqi Government “will continue to take all necessary measures to defeat Daesh inside and outside Iraq and protect all Iraqi citizens,” an official government twitter account said, confirming the airstrike using an Arabic acronym for ISIS. ISIS was declared militarily defeated in Iraq more than a year ago, but its hold on a small pocket of territory across the border in Syria is a security concern for Baghdad. Iraqi and coalition troops are in force along the border in western Anbar to prevent jihadists from crossing into Iraqi territory. And Iraq’s air force carries out occasional airstrikes in Syrian territory. Baghdad is worried that a US withdrawal from the war against ISIS in Syria will affect its border security. National Security Advisor Falih al-Fayyadh visited Damascus on Saturday, delivering a message from Abdul-Mahdi to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad about securing their shared border.
