US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday will co-chair a meeting of top diplomats of the US-led coalition in Iraq and Syria to discuss ways to sustain their campaign against the Islamic State (banned in Russia) terror group, the State Department said on Friday.
“Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will join Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sophie Wilmes in co-hosting a virtual meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS Small Group on March 30 to review continuing efforts in the campaign to achieve the enduring defeat of ISIS,” the State Department said in a press release.
The participants of the meeting will discuss ways to maintain pressure on the remaining terrorists in Iraq and Syria, and to combat IS networks in other countries, according to the release.
“They will also assess priorities for the Coalition’s lines of effort related to stabilization, foreign terrorist fighters, counter-ISIS financing, and counter-messaging efforts,” the release said. “The 83-member Global Coalition, of which the United States is a leading member, remains unwavering in its commitment to the enduring and global defeat of ISIS.”
The US-led coalition of more than 60 nations has been carrying out airstrikes and other operations against the Islamic State in Iraq since August 2014 and in Syria since September 2014. However, the coalition has acted in Syria without the approval of the Syrian government or the UN Security Council.
