Iraqi Prime Minister Says Baghdad, Damascus Have Common Goal of Destroying Daesh

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi said on Tuesday that Iraq and Syria are united by a common goal of anti-Daesh fight.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The governments of Syria and Iraq have a common goal – to destroy Daesh terror group, outlawed in Russia, Abadi said on Tuesday.

"We have a common goal [with the Syrian government] – to destroy Daesh," Abadi said at a press conference.

The prime minister pointed out that Baghdad was striving for establishing control over the areas close to the border with Syria in coordination with the Syrian government.

Abadi added that the Iraqi forces would prevent armed groups from coming to Syria from Iraq.

Daesh terror group has seized large territories in Syria, having taken the advantage of the civil war that erupted in the country in 2011, and in Iraq, where the jihadists launched a full-scale offensive in 2014.

Despite a number of successful anti-Daesh operations conducted both by Damascus and Baghdad, the group still retains control over its main stronghold in Syria Raqqa and parts of the second biggest Iraqi city of Mosul.