ISIS in Syria still poses an ‘existential threat’: Coalition
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - ISIS militants in Syria still represent “an existential threat”, the United States-led coalition said on Friday.
“Daesh remains an existential threat in Syria and it cannot be allowed to regenerate,” the official account of the coalition tweeted on Friday using the Arabic acronym for the group.
The tweet was made in light of live fire exercises between coalition forces and the allied Syrian Maghaweir Thowra (Revolutionary Commando Army) paramilitary in southern Syria.
Daesh remains an existential threat in Syria and it cannot be allowed to regenerate. Live fire exercises between @Coalition and our @MaghaweirThowra partners enhances interoperability & creates a strong & ready force to be ready when the need arises #StrongerTogether https://t.co/Lo7LrIZ9zt
— Inherent Resolve (@CJTFOIR) January 7, 2022
“Live fire exercises between @Coalition and our @MaghaweirThowra partners enhances interoperability & creates a strong & ready force to be ready when the need arises,” the coalition tweet added.
The US-led coalition has trained Maghaweir Thowra, formerly known as the New Syrian Army, fighters in the Al-Tanf base near the Jordanian border to combat ISIS. It has worked with the group for years.
The coalition tweet came in response to a tweet from the official Maghaweir Thowra account that also extolled their cooperation against ISIS.
“The @MaghaweirThowra continues continues its training with #US_forces on maneuvers using HIMARS missiles,” the account tweeted. “No one was hurt in the training area. These exercises show how well we can protect ourselves and the civilians from any attack.”
The coalition has used HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems) to provide fire support in battles against ISIS. The systems were used in the battle of Mosul in 2016. They were first deployed to Al-Tanf to support Maghaweir Thowra in June 2017.
HIMARS were also use to support the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces’ (SDF) offensive against ISIS in the eastern Syrian province of Deir al-Zor in 2018.