Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi Says No to Foreign Ground Troops

Iraq's new Prime Minister Haidar al Abadi said Wednesday that Iraq does not need foreign ground troops in its fight against the Islamic State militants.

Though Abadi acknowledged that U.S. airstrikes have helped Iraq in containing the Islamic State, he said that bringing foreign ground troops to Iraq is not possible.

"Not only is it not necessary," he said, "We don't want them. We won't allow them. Full stop."

However, Abadi asked the international community to expand its campaign against the Islamic State to neighbouring Syria.

"The fight will go on unless ISIL is hit in Syria," he said, using an acronym for the group. "This is the responsibility of the international community - on top of them the United States government - to do something about ISIL in Syria,"Abadi said, reports the Associated Press.

Abadi also said that Iraq cannot afford to enter in to a fight with neighbouring country Syria even though they disagree on many natter. He also said that sovereignty of Syria was very important to Iraq.

Abadi's comments come in the backdrop of U.S. military's Joint Chief of Staff General Martin Dempsey's statement that  the U.S. ground troops may become directly involved in the fight against the Islamic State militants if Obama's current strategy fails.

 Abadi said that the U.S. forces or the international coalition can help Iraq only through air strikes. He stressed that Iraq is not going to give any blank check to the international coalition to strike at any target in Iraq.

Delineating on the method of operations, Abadi said that Iraqi forces will select and approve the targets to be hit. The U.S has to consult with the Iraqi authorities before taking any action. Any lapse in this regard may result in casualties to the population as it happened in Pakistan and Yemen where the U.S.  carried out drone strikes for years.

Meanwhile, Iraq launched an intense military operation against Islamic State militants in the cities of Ramadi, Falluja, and Hadita, Wednesday. The operation in the cities  started before daybreak, security sources said, reports Reuters.