Intelligence Data Exchange Underway at Baghdad Info Center - Iraqi Official

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The exchange of reconnaissance data is already taking place at the information center, established by Russia, Syria, Iraq and Iran in Baghdad, the secretary of the Iraqi parliament’s defense committee told Sputnik Thursday.

"The coordination center already exists in Baghdad… What we have now is joint coordination and information exchange between the founding countries," Shahwan Abdallah said.

According to the Iraqi official, only the department for collecting intelligence data related to the Islamic State (ISIL) jihadists movement, used for selecting targets for air strikes, is operating at the moment.

"If there is information on ISIL movements in Iraq, then the Iraqi aviation carries out airstrikes, if the information is on Syria then the Russian aviation does it," Abdallah said.

In late September, Russia, Syria, Iraq and Iran created the Baghdad Information Center to coordinate joint military actions against ISIL. The four countries are represented by officers of the national armed forces, whose primary task is to collect and analyze data related to ISIL operations in the region.

On September 30, Russia began conducting precision airstrikes on Islamic State militant group positions in Syria at the request of President Bashar Assad.

Since the beginning of the air campaign, Russian Aerospace Forces have carried out some 830 strikes, killing several hundred militants and destroying dozens of command centers, and depots used by the terrorists.