Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani said on Tuesday that ISIS cells in Al-Hol camp in Syria were plotting to target the region with terrorist attacks, stressing that the organization remained a threat to Iraq and the province.
In exclusive remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Barzani emphasized that the international coalition was still needed to guarantee the defeat of the terrorist group.
“A terrorist cell affiliated with ISIS has set up its plans in Al-Hol camp to target the Kurdistan region with terrorist operations,” he revealed, saying “this is a matter of concern, as ISIS continues to pose a constant and serious threat to the residents of many areas in Iraq, through its ability to infiltrate the border.”
The prime minister noted that Iraq and the Kurdistan region needed the presence of the international coalition forces to ensure the inevitable defeat of ISIS, calling on allies and partners to “deal seriously with the dangers of this threat to peace and stability in the Kurdistan region and abroad.”
In previous statements about the latest rounds of strategic dialogue between Iraq and the United States, Barzani urged the Iraqi delegation to “take into account that the Kurdistan region has its own decision, and believes the international coalition forces should stay in Iraq, as long as there are risks of terror” attacks.
In an official statement on Monday, the prime minister announced that the security forces in the Kurdistan region managed to thwart a terrorist plot that ISIS was intending to implement in Erbil with planning from inside the Syrian territories.
The statement added that all the terrorist cell members were arrested and were under investigation.
