Kurdistan Security Council: Transferring IS extremists to Iraq border suspicious act

The convoy of buses and ambulances, escorted by the Syrian military, left the border region of eastern Syria to the Iraqi border.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) expressed concern regarding the deal between the Syrian regime, the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Islamic State (IS) extremist group over the transfer of hundreds of militants to the Iraqi border.

The KRSC released a statement on Tuesday explaining their uneasiness toward the deal struck between IS and the Syrian regime and Hezbollah, which guaranteed the transfer of IS fighters to border areas of Iraq.

“The Kurdistan Region Security Council is deeply alarmed by the transfer of hundreds of armed IS terrorists to the Iraqi border following the tripartite agreement,” the statement read, labeling it a “suspicious deal raising many questions.”

The KRSC called upon the relevant regional authorities to take a strong position against what the statement called "suspicious act between IS, Hezbollah and Syrian regime."

On Sunday, IS militants on the Lebanese-Syrian border agreed to a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah and the Syrian regime to transfer its fighters and their families from the western side of Syria to the western province of Deir al-Zor on the Iraqi border.

The militants were relocated to the town of al-Bukamal, which is across the border from Iraq's al-Qaim. The Iraqi border with Syria has not yet been fully secured, as al-Qaim remains under IS control.

The convoy of buses and ambulances, escorted by the Syrian military, left the border region on Monday, Reuters reported.

 

 

Editing by G.H. Renaud