Baghdad Anti-IS Information Center to Start Ops in October Or November

A joint anti-IS information center is being established on the basis of the information center in Baghdad involving Russia, Syria and Iran.

The joint information center will be based in Baghdad and will gather, process and analyze information about the situation in the Middle East to fight IS.

“A coordination structure should be established on the basis of the information center in Baghdad involving Russia in order to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the Middle East,” Syrian Arab News agency quoted Russian Defense Ministry as saying Tuesday.

Coordinator of the Russian Defense Ministry’s department of general inspectors Gen. Yuri Yakubov said everyone loyal to the legitimate Syrian authorities should be provided with modern arms so that they could resist ISIS members.

“Obviously, it is important to expand the anti-ISIS coalition. But it is no less important to provide with modern armaments and military hardware the followers of Syrian government forces, primarily the Syrian army, Kurdish militia and other supporters of President Bashar al-Assad,” Yakubov said.

He added that “In the wake of the Russian president’s appeal for creating a broad international coalition to fight ISIS, it is necessary to expand its membership and, at the same time, to build a structure for coordinating their actions in the Middle East.”

According to Yakubov, coordination structures formed at the basis of the information center in Baghdad consisting of Russia, Syria, Iran and Iraq would give new capacities to the international coalition.

Meanwhile, a Russian military source announced that Baghdad information center for exchanging intelligence information between Syria, Iraq, Iran and Russia will start work next October or November.

The source explained that the exchange of information will include the exchange of intelligence data obtained by the four countries from their sources, noting that the center will have a rotating presidency every three months by an officer from one of the four countries.