US Moving Daesh to Afghanistan: Iranian Top General
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri said the United States is relocating members of the Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) terrorist group to Afghanistan after their defeats in Iraq and Syria.
“The Americans point to (the existence) of tensions in the southwest Asia region as an excuse for their presence in the region,” Major General Baqeri told reporters in Tehran on Tuesday.
If the region became calm, they would have to withdraw their forces and then the regional counties would ensure the security of the region, he added.
Since Daesh and other terror groups lost their territories in Iraq and Syria, Washington has been relocating the terrorists to Afghanistan by various means, the top commander went on to say.
On November 19, Daesh terrorists were flushed out of their last stronghold in Syria’s Al-Bukamal. The city’s liberation marked an end to the group’s self-proclaimed caliphate it had declared in 2014.
Daesh militants made swift advances in northern and western Iraq over the summer of 2014, after capturing large areas of Syria.
But the timely support by Iran helped Syria and Iraq fight off Daesh. In addition, formation of military units by volunteers, known as Hashd al-Shaabi or Popular Mobilization Units, in Iraq blunted the edge of Daesh offensive and later made the terror group withdraw from the territories it had occupied.