Moscow 'approves arms sale' to Iraq

The Iraqi parliament’s security and defence committee this weekend announced that Moscow had approved the sale of Russian arms to the war-torn country.

Notably, the move comes one month after the Iraqi government gave Russia the green light to target convoys sent into Iraqi territory from Syria by the Daesh militant group.

Committee member Shakhwan Abdullah told Anadolu Agency on Saturday that the transaction – which will be made on credit – came as a result of earlier talks between committee members and their counterparts in the Russian State Duma Council and other senior Russian officials.

Earlier this month, a delegation of committee members went to Russia for a week-long visit during which they met with officials from Russia’s legislative and executive authorities.

Last month, committee head Hakem al-Zamli announced that the Iraqi government had authorized Russia to target Daesh convoys entering Iraqi territory from Syria as a means degrading the militant group’s capacities and cutting its supply lines.

Iraq has been plagued by rampant insecurity since June of last year, when Daesh militants overran the northern city of Mosul – Iraq’s second largest city – before going on to capture additional territories in both Iraq and Syria.