Iraqi Analyst:

US Forces Training ISIL Terrorists in Bases at Iraq-Syria Border

Rasa - ISIL terrorists have gone under training in the US-run basses at Iraq's border with Syria to be regrouped for fresh activities, an Iraqi expert said on Wednesday.

News ID: 441933

Date: 06 December 2018 - 11:34

RNA - The Arabic-language al-Ma'aloumah news website quoted Hafez Al Basharah, an Iraqi political expert, as saying that the US forces, deployed at bases in border regions between Iraq and Syria, have trained ISIL terrorists.

The news website further said that the US has prevented any flight over its bases and has blocked release of information on its activities at these bases; "but, based on Iraqi and Russian intelligence, the bases have been home to the terrorist groups as a number of arrested members of the ISIL enjoyed permits to enter the US-run bases".

The analyst further was quoted as saying that the bases were possibly used by the US forces as training camps for the ISIL terrorists to regroup them and send them to freed regions in Iraq which are not under tight security control by Baghdad.

On Tuesday, al-Ma'aloumah quoted Hashem al-Moussavi as saying that a number of ISIL leaders were sheltered at Iraq's border with Syria to survive current attacks by the Iraqi security forces and Hashd al-Shaabi.

According to Fars News Agency, he added that Syria's al-Tanf base was the main stronghold of the terrorists and supplies the ISIL remnants with weapons, military equipment and intelligence, noting that Washington aims to use the ISIL commanders as a leverage to pressure Baghdad and Damascus.

Al-Moussavi said that the Iraqi security forces and Hashd al-Shaabi were trying to cleanse Wadi Houran region in al-Anbar (at the borders between Iraq and Syria) from terrorists, adding that the US fighter jets often provide a cover to the ISIL moves between Iraq and Syria.

The US-led coalition has long been suspected of colluding with the ISIL terrorist group in Eastern Syria for quite a few years now. Experts believe the US needs to keep a contained group of ISIL terrorists operating in the region in a bid to justify its buildup in Eastern Syria.

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