Russia to Take New Political, Military Decisions if ISIS Redeployed to Eastern Syria

Russia to Take New Political, Military Decisions if ISIS Redeployed to Eastern Syria
Tue Oct 18, 2016 16:07:13

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warns that his country could take "political and military" decisions if ISIS terrorists were redeployed to eastern Syria after being granted a safe passage from Mosul.

“As far as I know, the city is not fully encircled. I hope it’s because they simply couldn’t do it, not because they wouldn’t do it. But this corridor poses a risk that ISIS [Daesh] fighters could flee from Mosul and go to Syria,” Lavrov said on Tuesday.

“We will be evaluating the situation and take decisions of both political and military nature if this happens,” he added. “I hope the US-led coalition, which is actively engaged in the operation to take Mosul, will take it into account.”

Iraqi government troops, together with Sunni fighters and Shia forces from Popular Mobilization Units, and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, are involved in a massive offensive to liberate Mosul, the last major Daesh stronghold in Iraq.

The Iraqi premier announced the start of the operations to liberate Mosul from ISIS terrorists on Sunday. The city fell to the Takfiri Daesh terrorists in June 2014 shortly after they unleashed a campaign of terror and destruction in the northern and western parts of Iraq.

Earlier, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency quoted an unnamed diplomatic source as saying that the US and Saudi Arabia had agreed to grant ISIS terrorists free passage from Iraq’s Mosul on the condition that they relocated to the eastern regions of Syria.

The source said the plan aimed "to discredit the success of the Russian Air Force. And, of course, it’s an attempt to undermine Syrian President (Bashar) al-Assad.”

Russia has been conducting airstrikes against Daesh and other terrorist groups in Syria since September 30 upon a request from the government of President Assad. Since then, it has killed hundreds of terrorists, Press TV reported.

219

string(1801) "[{"id":"1873933","sort":"3645097","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/10/18/alalam_636123764014735706_25f_4x3.mp4","title":"Daesh VIDEO: Islamic State Militants’ Footage Portrays Iraq’s Mosul Fightback"} ,{"id":"1873966","sort":"3645098","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/10/18/alalam_636123788472074153_25f_4x3.mp4","title":"LATEST VIDEO: Iraqi Forces Continue Advance against ISIS in East of Mosul"} ,{"id":"1873985","sort":"3645099","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/10/18/alalam_636123814544963707_25f_4x3.mp4","title":"FRONTLINE VIDEO: Kurdish Peshmarga Troops Advance to Join Mosul Operation"} ,{"id":"1874037","sort":"3645100","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/10/18/alalam_636123869538842733_25f_4x3.mp4","title":"LATEST VIDEO: Watch Iraqi Army Troops Advance against ISIS in Mosul Operation"} ,{"id":"1874062","sort":"3645101","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/10/18/alalam_636123901808754683_25f_4x3.mp4","title":"FRESH VIDEO: Iraqi Army Troops Advancing in Mosul Offensive against ISIS Terrorists"} ,{"id":"1874090","sort":"3645102","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/10/18/alalam_636123937710579601_25f_4x3.mp4","title":"Aerial VIDEO: US Carries out Airstrikes on Islamic State Facility near Mosul"} ,{"id":"1874114","sort":"3645103","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/10/18/alalam_636123953415319918_25f_4x3.mp4","title":"VIDEO: Daesh Tries to Obstruct Iraq’s Mosul Operation by Lighting Oil in Trenches"} ,{"id":"1874115","sort":"3645104","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/10/18/alalam_636123947833001742_25f_4x3.mp4","title":"VIDEO: ISIS Footage Shows Blasts, Damage in Iraq’s Mosul"} ,{"id":"1874146","sort":"3645105","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/10/18/alalam_636123997444249939_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"VIDEO: French FIghter Jets Target Improvised Explosive Devices in Mosul"} ]"