Hashd Al-Shaabi Cautions Against US Heliborne Relocation of ISIL Terrorists to Iraq

“The security forces are stationed and guarding the Iraqi-Syrian borders, but the airspace of these regions are fully open to the US planes and helicopters, including Chinook cargo helicopters,” Kazzem al-Fartousi, a commander of Kata’eb Seyed al-Shohada, told the Arabic-language al-Ma’aloumeh news website on Wednesday.

He warned that the US planes and helicopters are never checked by the Iraqi authorities and they easily transfer the terrorists from Syria to safe zone in Iraq in heliborne operations.

Al-Fartousi joined many other senior military commanders and officials deeply wary of what seems to be a scheme by the US to escalate tensions through a revival of terrorist operations by the remnants of ISIL militants to undermine the central government in Baghdad and justify the US buildup in Iraq.

In relevant remarks on Sunday, an official revealed that the US forces in Western Iraq are relocating ISIL ringleaders from Syria to Wadi Houran region in Western al-Anbar province after the area was cleansed by Hashd al-Shaabi.

“After the US forces prevented Iraqi forces from approaching Wadi Houran and the Western desert of al-Anbar, finally, Hashd al-Shaabi could remove the existing obstacles and defeat the ISIL terrorists in the region and cleanse Wadi Houran completely,” Head of Badr Organization’s Office in al-Anbar Qusai al-Anbari told al-Ma’aloumeh.

“But after the cleansing operations, the US forces stationed near the region facilitated the trafficking of the ISIL terrorists and their transfer to Wadi Houran and the Western desert by reopening a number of roads and heliborne operations,” he added.

Al-Anbari said that the US forces have in the first stage transferred a number of ISIL ringleaders with foreign nationalities to Wadi Houran and the Western desert of al-Anbar to revive the ISIL under a new name to foment insecurity in Iraq.