BAGHDAD, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Air Force on Thursday carried out an airstrike on a position of the Islamic State (IS) militants inside Syria near the border with Iraq, the Iraqi military said.
Acting on intelligence reports, the Iraqi F-16 warplanes pounded a headquarters for terrorist Daesh (IS group), with IS leaders and militants inside, in Hajin area in Syria, said a statement by the media office of the Joint Operations Command.
The airstrike was effective, and more details will be released later, said the statement.
The airstrike is part of preemptive airstrikes against IS militants inside Syria with Iraqi F-16 fighter jets.
On April 26, Haider al-Abadi, the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces, pledged to continue airstrikes on positions and headquarters of the IS in Iraq's neighboring Syria, asserting that Iraq will not interfere in Syrian affairs.
"Iraq will not allow IS terrorists to regroup in Iraq, as they will not find breeding ground inside Iraq anymore," Abadi told reporters in Baghdad.
He said that IS group has suffered fiasco in both Iraq and Syria, but the complex situation in Syria and the ongoing conflict gave a breathing chance for IS in eastern Syria near the border with Iraq.
On Dec. 9, 2017, Abadi officially declared full liberation of Iraq from IS militants after Iraqi forces recaptured all the areas once seized by the extremist group.
