MOSCOW, October 2 (RIA Novosti) – Damascus will get information on airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) militants through intermediaries, the Al Bawaba online publication reported Thursday.
"The government of Syria will receive information on airstrikes through intermediaries because there is no direct cooperation between Damascus and the United States in the fight against the IS," Ali Haidar, Syria's State Minister for National Reconciliation, said in an interview with the Japanese Tokyo Shimbun newspaper Thursday, as quoted by Al Bawaba.
Haidar added that Syrian authorities continue to gather information on IS militant locations.
On Tuesday, Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Moualem said in an interview with Associated Press that Syria is "satisfied" with US airstrikes against IS militants, even though the United States does not inform Syria of every strike before it happens.
The IS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June, 2014, the jihadist group spread its attacks to northern and western Iraq.
In August, the United States started launching airstrikes against IS positions in Iraq. Last month, the attacks were extended to Syria, with France and Pentagon's Arab allies taking part.
Britain joined the air campaign Tuesday, carrying out its first strikes against IS extremists in Iraq, though it does not plan to expand its operations into Syria.
US President Barack Obama announced his decision to form an international anti-IS coalition on September 10. Washington also said it would be arming and equipping Kurds, Iraqis and Syria's moderate opposition in an effort to eradicate the IS.
