Syria informed about US-led strikes on IS via Iraq, Assad says

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad said third parties including Iraq were conveying information to Damascus about the US-led campaign of air strikes against the Islamic State militant group in Syria.

In an interview with the BBC broadcast on Tuesday, Mr Assad said there was no direct co-operation with the United States, whose air force has been bombing Islamic State in Syria since September as part of a strategy aimed at rolling back the group.

Islamic State has seized wide areas of Syria and Iraq, declaring them part of a cross-border “caliphate”.

But the United States has said Mr Assad cannot be a partner in the campaign against the group, describing him as part of the problem.

The Syrian government is waging its own, separate campaign against Islamic State, including air strikes in areas that have also been struck by the US-led alliance.

It has been widely assumed the Syrian and US armies have conveyed information about the movements of jets using the same air space.

Asked if there was indirect cooperation, Mr Assad said: “That’s true, through third parties, more than one party, Iraq and other countries, sometimes they convey a message, a general message, but there is nothing tactical.”

Assad said the Syrian government had known about the US-led campaign before it started but did not have details.

The United States said in September it had informed the Syrian ambassador to the United Nations ahead of the first strikes.

Reuters