Baghdad: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi on Tuesday rejected the relocation of around 700 Daesh (self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) militants and their families to the Syrian eastern city of Bukamal near the border with Iraq.
“We are concerned about the evacuation of large number of terrorist Daesh militants to areas near the Iraqi border. This is unacceptable,” Al Abadi said at a press conference after his weekly cabinet meeting.
“We wished they would discuss with us. We ask the Syrian government to cooperate with us and to launch investigation into the issue,” Abadi said.
Abadi also slammed the negotiation of Hezbollah and Daesh as “unjustified” because there must be cooperation to eradicate terrorism, not negotiation.
“We are not seeking to contain the terrorists, but to eliminate them,” Abadi said.
Iraqi security forces still have to wage offensives to free the border areas with Syria, including cities such as Al Qaim, Aana and Rawa. However, observers believe that bringing more Daesh militants to Syrian areas across the border with Iraq would empower the terrorist group.
Al Abadi’s comment came a day after around 700 Daesh militants and their families started evacuating their last stronghold in western Qalamoun region toward the city of Bukamal in eastern Syria, in accordance with an agreement reached between Hezbollah and Daesh and agreed upon by the Syrian army.
A total of 16 buses carried the evacuated, including around 300 Daesh militants and their family members.
