Iraqi Popular Forces Preparing to Hunt Terrorists on Syrian Territory

Vice-Chairman of the Hashd al-Shaabi Committee Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes announced that his forces have been put on alert to chase terrorists in Syria if the militants in Syria launch attacks on Iraq.

He further said that Hashd al-Shaabi missions in Syria should be allowed and declared by the country’s Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi and in coordination with the Damascus government.

An Arabic-language media reported last week that the Iraqi sources disclosed dispatch of forces and equipment to the border with Syria after the predominantly-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) withdraw from the region in a surprising move.

“The SDF forces who were stationed along Deir Ezzur and Iraq’s al-Qaem border region in Western Al-Anbar have retreated from their positions in a sudden move,” the Arabic-language al-Maloumeh News quoted Iraqi Hashd al-Shaabi forces in Al-Anbar province Qatari al-Abidi as saying.

He noted that subsequent to the withdrawal, a large number of Iraqi army and Hashd al-Shaabi forces have been sent to the Iraq-Syria border region to prevent any possible penetration of the terrorists into Iraq’s territories.