BAGHDAD—Iraq’s air force struck Daesh targets inside Syria for the first time on Friday as Iraqi troops on the ground pushed into western Mosul, the last major urban stronghold held by the Sunni militant group in Iraq. Islamic State, which is now on the defensive after losing control of eastern Mosul in Iraq to a U.S.-backed Iraqi military offensive, has claimed responsibility for several car bombs in Baghdad in the capital in the past few weeks. "We are determined to chase terrorism that tries to kill our sons and citizens, wherever it is found, so we gave orders to the air force command to strike Islamic State positions in (the Iraqi town of) Hosaiba and Albu Kamal inside Syrian territory as they were responsible for recent bombings in Baghdad," Abadi said in a statement. “If we do not have this kind of coordination, I think, that after Mosul the ISIS fighters will come to Syria and we see that the Iraqi forces try to close the borders between Syria and Iraq.”

Abdallah added that similarly motivated cooperation between the United States and Russia is needed to defeat IS, but so far it was “not clear what is the plan in the minds of the Trump administration.”
The Iraqi Air Force strikes ISIL targets inside Syria for the first time in response to recent bombings in Baghdad.