Iraqi security forces advancing Thursday towards the town of Faysh Khabur, which is located on the Turkish and Syrian borders in the Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region.
On April 4, co-chair of the Syrian Kurdish Movement for a Democratic Society Aldar Xelil told Reuters that the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Iraqi Army may launch a join military operation against the remaining ISIS fighters on the Syrian-Iraqi border.
“Iraq is a neighboring state and is also suffering from Daesh [ISIS] terrorism … Daesh is present in the shared area between us, and this points to the possibility of conditions arising that would pave the way for joint actions against Daesh,” Xelil told Reuters during a phone call.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi revealed on April 2 that the Iraqi Army has plans to launch a military operation against ISIS inside Syria. However, Abadi didn’t mention that the SDF may participate in the supposed operation.
ISIS controls over 150km of the Syrian Iraqi-border east and southeast of the Syrian city of al-Shaddadah, according to Syrian sources. Hundreds of ISIS fighters and commanders are still situated there, possibly including ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Local observers doubt that the Iraqi Army could launch a joint operation with the SDF as such a step could upset Damascus, Ankara and Tehran – all of them considers the group illegitimate. However, an anti-ISIS operation inside Syria by the Iraqi Army only, is highly possible.
Washington just publicly buttfucked SDF on National TV in PrimeTime. Why would SDF agree to any joint operation?
Dollars, you can bet a senior official got a lot of money, and a visa.
Quite interesting .. perhaps this is a move by Iraq and Syria. Have Iraq take control of the remaining pocket in eastern Syria.. and once that’s done hand it over to The Syrian Government, thus effectively forcing SDF to reach some sort of an agreement with Syrian government. I however cant see Iraq working with the SDF
Iraq and SAA have worked together near the border from Dier Ezzor, however SDF is backed by the enemy, the US. If Iraq enters Syrian territory it would need to be with Syrian permission, which would not be given if they work with the enemy.
No me neither, as stated in a comment above, it was not the SDF is Iraq at the border – it was the PMU…https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_Mobilization_Forces ….if the article is true, I have made some totally wrong assumptions along the way.
I think I have it now, https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/us-backed-forces-may-launch-joint-operations-with-iraqi-military-along-syrian-border-report/.
Iraq fights on one side – SDF fight on the other along the border …..I think.
I don’t think either one will worry about crossing the border while chasing down ISIS.
So basically Washington wants to use Iraqi soldiers as canon fodder to carve them out some more territory in Syria.
No, I think the SDF involvement is reactionary. CENTCOM has consistently used ISIS as a placeholder for pre-planned land/oil theft. They must have made a deal with them earlier that if ISIS left the oilfields for land to the east of them up to the Syrian border, then CENTCOM/SDF would not pursue or attack them. And, indeed, they have not for months now. If you look closely at the supposed SDF – ISIS boundary in eastern Syria, you’ll see it follows the eastern boundary of the oilfields almost exactly.
Now Iraq recognizes that when they attack ISIS, they just run across the border into Syria and return to Iraq a few days later. Whether they know about the SDF/ISIS deal or not, the Iraqis are tired of this game. CENTCOM fears that the Iraqis may not ‘give’ the land to the Kurds, but to the Syrian government. That’s why the sudden SDF announcement. SDF has to steal and occupy the liberated territory to claim it as war booty from the Syrian people. They (or CENTCOM’s Border Head-chopper Forces) would have kicked ISIS out and eventually seized the land, but the Iraqi plans are making CENTCOM scramble for the land-grab sooner than expected.
It seems that way, but that is not how I understood it over the last couple of days. I thought it was the Iraqi PMU coming in as they are already on the border points. why would Iraq want to p1ss Syria off ?, it makes no sense to me.
It’s a mopping-up operation to clear out the remnants of ISIS that fled into that wasteland. The SAA is poised to do the same at the Yarmouk refugee camp outside Damascus. Next the SDF and Iraqis will get after the remnants in SE Syria along the river and eventually the ISIS affiliate in Daraa will get eliminated either by the SAA or the “rebel” militias.
This could work-out very well. U.S. backed S.D.F. v.s. U.S. baked d’aesh to clear a pocket of desert for Syria. Make the U.S. military feel like they are doing something.
For those not aware of how long the US has been trying to destroy Syria, try reading this, https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-04/1986-cia-document-analyzes-possibilities-regime-change-syria
Sinbad, you read this one – scroll down the list and press on Syria…. http://markcurtis.info/uk-declassified-documents/
Syria coordinated with Iraqi forces to eliminate Isis in the areas the SAA held, but there’s no way in hell the US backed SDF will do the same, at least not effectively. Erdogan’s pulled a lot of SDF troops away from Deir ez-Zor with his actions in Aleppo, making them even less capable of ousting Isis from the area, and giving the US and their SDF forces an excuse not to help in any coordinated actions with Iraq. The US are actually protecting this group of REAL Isis fighters, as they’re the only way the US can supply their fake Isis fighters in Hama and Deir ez-Zor right now. The Russians more or less isolated the fake Isis fighters from the US base at Al-Tanf, which was not only supplying them, but protecting them as well, by means of the 55km exclusion zone. So now they rely on this group of REAL Isis fighters to run the SAA and Russian gauntlet for everything they need. I’m sure the US pays them very well though and does it’s utmost to ensure their safety.
I think the article is badly written or my interpretation is wrong, but I am not sure..
Check this out and see if it changes your undrstanding of the situation – https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/us-backed-forces-may-launch-joint-operations-with-iraqi-military-along-syrian-border-report/
It looks like the only news source is a single person, Kurdish representative. For all that we know he may be just talking out of his ass.
Your are right I think – its a load of BS anyway. IN MY VIEW.
almasdar is a good source of info and the article points out the obvious, Russia and the SAA won’t allow the Kurds to operate south of the Euphrates with the Iraqis so it’s just a waste of ink to say otherwise. If you don’t check this map out already I suggest you do, syria.liveuamap.com. I find it invaluable for so many reasons but beware if you do use it, it’s pro rebel propaganda and it lies through it’s teeth. The one thing you can trust in this map however is it’s accuracy in proclaiming any of the gains made by any of the factions fighting against the SAA and Russia, and any of the losses of territory by the SAA, but not the casualty rates, that they do lie about. It’s also good for getting an overall feel for what’s going on all over the country in one big picture. Pay attention to where the Isis pockets are located on this map, and it’s the top 2 pockets the article refers to north of the river. The pocket I call fake Isis operate south of the Euphrates and are the group the Russians and SAA are trying their hardest to get rid of. The 2 groups north of the Euphrates used to fight the Kurds but stopped and now the small pocket right near the town of Abu Kamal are attacking the SAA again. The only thing that makes sense about this article is the possibility it’s a veiled threat by the Kurds to the US, warning of the beginnings of a switching of allegiance if the US were to desert the Kurds in favour of the Turks, apart from that it is just a waste of ink.
It was just a one off blow out by me, I read AMN every day, but this article did not fit their usual quality FOR ME.
As for syria.liveuamap.com …… I think you are watching an opposition site, but what do I know ?.
I think you must of misread this part of my reference to the Syria live map, ” but beware if you do use it, it’s pro rebel propaganda and it lies through it’s teeth. The one thing you can trust in this map however is it’s accuracy in proclaiming any of the gains made by any of the factions fighting against the SAA and Russia, and any of the losses of territory by the SAA, but not the casualty rates, that they do lie about “. It’s pro Turkish and anti Assad, but if you only get your news and info from the side you’re aligned to you’ll never see through the lies your own side’s telling you. In a conflict all sides lie and do it for many different reasons. They lie about casualties and losses to protect morale, and sometimes they have to lie for strategic reasons, they’d be idiots not to, and sometimes some of them even create false flags. You can’t always expect the truth from your side, that’s if they’re doing their job properly, so you have to try and work it out for yourself. I use opposition sites to help me try and do it, I suggest you try doing the same.
An Iraqi alliance with the Kurds will enrage all of the Kurd’s rivals but one must also consider that any alliance will have to untangle the web of internal divisions in both sides. Given the many anti-Baghdad activities of Iraqi Kurds and the anti-Kurdish movements by Baghdad there will undoubtedly be many in both camps that will be unwilling to cooperate with the other. As I’ve been saying for a while, to get rid of the remaining ISIS pockets we will have to get in and do ourselves.
Abu Bakr al Baghdadi still in the Desert? Don’t think so….Elliot Shimon is already back home Shaved & Well
https://www.google.nl/amp/s/www.globalresearch.ca/isis-is-a-us-israeli-creation-top-ten-indications/5518627/amp
Dear SF – could you please clarify this article.
1. Do you mean Iraq will cross the border ?. 2. Could you explain why Iraq would ally with an enemy ?
Many of us, may being interpreting this incorrectly / cannot fathom the logic out.
Cheers.
My guess is that Iraq will start behaving like Turkey…. ISIS and All the Other Headchopping Takfiri & SDF Mercenaries supported by the U.S., Israhell & ofcourse Wahhabistan….Will soon receive Pressure from all Sides in a very Subtle Way not to Escalate the Whole situation….Slowly but Surely they will Lose Ground….
I doubt it, but 3 days after you comment, I m none the wiser.
This is a war of Confusion & Deception… Israhell is getting what it deserves… and my idea is still that more people are working together, then we all can imagine…at least I hope so… don’t forget this threat of going Nuclear…no one really wants that…and especially people, that have been collecting Gold are very reluctant to die believe me… you can’t take it to Hell with Ya…others are not in it for the Gold but for their independance & Freedom… which is much more Powerful…for it comes from the Heart….weapons are equal this time…hehehe
Very true, a beaut of a comment.
The PMU in Iraq are affiliated with the SAA, Iran and Hesb. They want to clear-out Da’esh. SDF are along for the ride hoping to gain territory for the U.S. backed Kurdish Homeland. The U.S. just wants land. In the end Syrians will regain their land.
iraki army and sdf foutaise propaganda usa kurde . the kurdes ennemis NUMEROS 1 the bagdad!