Iraq steps up anti-IS coordination with Iran, Syria, Russia

Baghdad: Iraq has agreed to set up a cell increasing intelligence coordination with Russia, Syria and Iran in the fight against the Islamic State group, a government spokesman said on Sunday.

"It`s a committee coordinating between the four countries, with representatives of each country, in the field of military intelligence and aimed at sharing and analysing information," Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi`s office, told AFP.

He said the cell would focus on "monitoring the movements of terrorists... and degrade their capacity."

A statement from Iraq`s Joint Operations Command said the deal with Moscow comes amid "growing concern over the presence of thousands of Russian terrorists engaged in criminal acts with Daesh (IS)."

Hadithi would not say whether the new cell had already begun its work.

The move comes as Moscow is boosting its military presence in neighbouring Syria, deploying more troops and warplanes to an air base along with new arms deliveries to regime forces.