U.S. Denies Halting Anti-IS Cooperation With Iraq In Anbar Province

The U.S. embassy in Baghdad denied Sunday it has halted military cooperation with Iraqi security forces to fight the Islamic State (IS) militant group which has captured parts of the country's western province of Anbar.
"Recent news reports alleging that the U.S.-led coalition has halted air operations or military cooperation with Iraqi security forces are simply untrue," the embassy said in statement.
It said the coalition airstrikes against IS terrorist group, U.S. advise and assist efforts in Anbar province are going on. "On Oct. 2 and 3, the coalition conducted airstrikes across Anbar province, including nine airstrikes in direct support of Iraqi military forces' actions near Ramadi."
"The U.S.-led coalition remains committed to working with its Iraqi partners in operations to degrade and destroy Daesh in Anbar province and throughout Iraq," the statement concluded.
The embassy statement came after some media reports claimed that the United States has halted military and intelligence cooperation with Iraqi forces in Anbar province, in response to an security and intelligence agreement between Iraq and the three countries of Russia, Iran and Syria that aimed at confronting the increasing threat from the IS group in the region.
A week ago, a statement by the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said the new agreement aimed at "assisting and participating in collecting information about Daesh (IS group) and its associates."
Observers here see that such agreement could raise concerns in Washington over Moscow's increasing role in the Middle East, after a greater military involvement of Russia in Syria in recent weeks in addition to Russian pressure to include Damascus in the international efforts to counter the IS in the region. (Cihan/Xinhua)