Fayyad Says East of Syria Is Next Front of PMF after Mosul Campaign

National Security Adviser in the Iraqi government and President of Popular Mobilization Forces, Faleh al-Fayyad, revealed on Saturday that Iraqi forces might move to Syria after the liberation of Mosul city with the aim “to chase the ISIL group,” in reference to the so-called ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ takfiri organization.

During a seminar in the province of Najaf, central Iraq, entitled “National Security Challenges after the Liberation of Mosul,” Fayyad said “the Iraqi security forces are liberating the villages surrounding the city of Mosul and making remarkable progress in approaching the city center.”

“Iraq shares borders and wide areas with Syria,” he said, adding that “the Syrian arena overlapping the Iraqi arena, and we might enter into areas inside Syria to deter ISIL after the liberation of Mosul.”

Fayad’s remarks came a day after similar comments by deputy head of the PMF Abu Mahdi Mohandes stating that the next destination for forces after the Battle of Mosul would be areas inside the east of Syria, in reference to Deir Ezzor and Raqqah.