Iraq says Syria air raid separate from US ISIS strike

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said Saturday that an Iraqi airborne operation carried out inside Syria was not connected to a U.S. strike against the Islamic State group a day earlier, stressing that the timing and locations of the two operations were different.

Deputy Commander of Joint Operations Lt. Gen. Qais al-Mohammadawi said the Iraqi operation was based on Iraqi intelligence and targeted suspects wanted by the Iraqi judiciary.

“The Iraqi airdrop operation in Syria has no connection to the American strike, and even the geographic location is different and far from the airstrike sites,” al-Mohammadawi said in remarks to the official news agency. “The timing and places of the two operations are different.”

He said the raid relied on intelligence gathered over several weeks.

“The airdrop came based on accurate intelligence from the Falcons Cell of the Interior Ministry’s Intelligence Agency and weeks of monitoring these targets,” he said. “It resulted in the arrest of important targets about 10 kilometers inside Syrian territory, through an airborne deployment coordinated with the coalition.”

Al-Mohammadawi said Iraq maintains coordination with Syrian authorities to prevent cross-border threats.

“There is high coordination with Syria to prevent terrorist infiltration and exchange information,” he said.

Earlier, Iraq’s Security Media Cell said an intelligence-led operation in northeastern Syria led to the arrest of two suspects wanted by the Iraqi judiciary. The raid involved an airborne landing carried out by the Interior Ministry’s Falcon Intelligence Cell, in coordination with Syrian security forces and with technical support from the international coalition, under the direction of the commander in chief of the armed forces.

“Under the direction and follow-up of the respected commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and through a specialized operation by the men of the Falcon Intelligence Cell within the Federal Intelligence and Investigations Agency at the Interior Ministry, an airborne force carried out an air landing on two important targets wanted by the Iraqi judiciary in northeastern Syria and arrested them,” the statement said.

The Iraqi statement followed U.S. Central Command’s announcement that American forces launched “Operation Hawkeye Strike” in Syria, carrying out large-scale air and artillery attacks against Islamic State targets. CENTCOM said the operation was launched in response to a December attack near Palmyra that killed U.S. military personnel and involved more than 70 ISIS targets across central Syria.