Syrian delegation in Baghdad discusses border security

A high-level delegation from the Syrian Defense Ministry has held talks in Baghdad with Iraqi officials on border security to coordinate the ongoing fight against the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

Iraq's Defense Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that Lieutenant General Othman al-Ghanmi, the army's chief of staff, met with a "high-level delegation" from Syria.

"The meeting discussed ... the Iraqi-Syrian field of operations, it being one field against a common enemy, which is the terrorist Daesh organization...," the statement read.

"We discussed holding Syria-Iraq borders to maintain pressure on the terrorist enemy and establishing a joint operations center through which both sides can coordinate."

Ghanmi said the two sides had agreed to continue exchange of intelligence to provide flexibility for Iraqi air forces to bomb targets near the border.

In February, Iraqi fighter jets struck Daesh targets inside Syria in what appeared to be the first time Iraqi planes had conducted such raids across the border. A Syrian source said the strikes had been coordinated.

Syrian troops backed by volunteer forces in Syria's southeast desert reached the Iraqi border last week near Tanf base. The move toward the border took place in a number of directions in the semi-arid al-Badiya region.

Lebanon-based Arabic-language al-Mayadeen news network, citing an unnamed military commander, reported on Monday that the Syrian army units in cooperation with allies had managed to score territorial gains and were now only 600 meters away from the Iraqi border.

SS