Iraq could deploy military into Syria, says prime minister

Adel Abdul-Mahdi said on Monday his government may deploy troops inside Syria following Washington's decision to withdraw its troops from the war-torn country.

MENA

1 min read

The New Arab & agencies

24 December, 2018

Abdul-Mahdi spoke to reporters at a press conference on Monday [AP]

Iraq's prime minister said on Monday his government could deploy troops inside Syria, in the latest fallout from the US decision to withdraw from the war-torn country.

Adel Abdul-Mahdi said his government was "considering all the options" to protect Iraq from threats across its borders.

The US stunned the international community last Thursday when it announced it would pull its forces out of Syria, leaving its allies, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, to fight the Islamic State group alone.

IS militants hold a pocket of territory along the Syrian-Iraqi border. Iraq is keeping reinforcements at the frontier.

Abdul-Mahdi spoke to reporters at a press conference on Monday.

Agencies contributed to this report.

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