Russia warns against Mosul terrorists relocating to eastern Syria

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warns that his country could take "political and military" decisions if the Daesh Takfiri terrorists were redeployed to eastern Syria after being granted a safe passage from Mosul.

“As far as I know, the city is not fully encircled. I hope it’s because they simply couldn’t do it, not because they wouldn’t do it. But this corridor poses a risk that Islamic State [Daesh] fighters could flee from Mosul and go to Syria,” Lavrov said on Tuesday.

“We will be evaluating the situation and take decisions of both political and military nature if this happens,” he added. “I hope the US-led coalition, which is actively engaged in the operation to take Mosul, will take it into account.”

Iraqi government troops, together with Sunni fighters and Shia forces from Popular Mobilization Units, and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, are involved in a massive offensive to liberate Mosul, the last major Daesh stronghold in Iraq.

Earlier, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency quoted an unnamed diplomatic source as saying that the US and Saudi Arabia had agreed to grant Daesh terrorists free passage from Iraq’s Mosul on the condition that they relocated to the eastern regions of Syria.

The source said the plan aimed "to discredit the success of the Russian Air Force. And, of course, it’s an attempt to undermine Syrian President (Bashar) al-Assad.”

SS