Kurdistan to seriously monitor, investigate transfer of 'terrorists' near Iraqi border: Spokesperson

ERBIL, Kurdistan  Region (Kurdistan 24) - The heavily-reported transfer of a large number of the Islamic State (IS) militants from the Lebanese border to the Syrian-Iraqi border has been labeled "suspicious" and requires "serious monitoring and investigation" according to the Kurdistan Region Presidency (KRP). 

"Bringing those forces from Lebanon to eastern Syria and the Iraqi border is suspicious. We will carefully observe and investigate the case," Omed Sabah, the KRP spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.

"We see it as a repeat of the 2014 scenario which resulted in many atrocities carried out in Iraq and the region," the statement read.

It also emphasized that Peshmerga forces in the Kurdistan Region will fully cooperate with the Iraqi army to face any possible threats.

The Special US Envoy for the global anti-IS coalition also expressed his dismay at the deal. "Irreconcilable IS terrorists should be killed on the battlefield, not bused across Syria to the Iraqi border without Iraq's consent," he said on his official Twitter account on Wednesday. 

He added that the coalition would help forces in Iraq protect themselves against a possible strong reemergence of jihadists gangs and attacks in Iraq.

Our @coalition will help ensure that these terrorists can never enter #Iraq or escape from what remains of their dwindling "caliphate." 2/2

— Brett McGurk (@brett_mcgurk) August 30, 2017

IS agreed to evacuate territory, for the first time, from a district on the Syria-Lebanon border after striking a deal with the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Syrian regime. The convoy of buses and ambulances carrying hundreds of armed jihadists and their families, escorted by the Syrian military, left the border region on Monday.

Editing by G.H. Renaud