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Official: US not notified of Russia firing missiles through Iraq, Syria

Neither Russia nor Iraq warned the United States that cruise missiles had entered Iraqi airspace en route to Syria, a U.S. official told VOA. Russia said Wednesday that it used four warships in the Caspian Sea to launch rockets at Islamic State targets in Syria. Rockets fired from those ships would have traveled through Iraqi airspace, […]

Carla Babb reports for VOA:

Neither Russia nor Iraq warned the United States that cruise missiles had entered Iraqi airspace en route to Syria, a U.S. official told VOA. Russia said Wednesday that it used four warships in the Caspian Sea to launch rockets at Islamic State targets in Syria. Rockets fired from those ships would have traveled through Iraqi airspace, where U.S. and coalition pilots are conducting anti-Islamic State operations to help Iraqi and Peshmerga forces defeat the extremists.

The official acknowledged to VOA that this is exactly the kind of action that could result in a mishap or misunderstanding. The official did not appear alarmed, however, by the move.