Tillerson says end of combat does not spell end of ISIL

World
Europe

Washington's top envoy Tuesday called on allies to keep fighting the Islamic State group, saying that the end of major combat did not mean "enduring defeat" of the extremists.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke at a ministerial meeting in Kuwait of the US-led military coalition that has been fighting ISIL in Iraq and Syria, being held in parallel with a conference on reconstruction in Iraq.

The jihadist group has lost much of the territory it once controlled when it seized large swathes of Syria and neighboring Iraq in 2014.

"The end of major combat operations does not mean we have achieved the enduring defeat of ISIS (ISIL)," Tillerson said.

"ISIS (ISIL) remains a serious threat to the stability of the region, our homelands and other parts of the globe," he said.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled al-Sabah (R) attend a ministerial meeting in Kuwait City, February 13, 2018. /VCG Photo

Iraq declared victory over ISIL in December, but the extremist group still has a presence in Syria, where the US-led coalition has backed a Kurdish-Arab alliance fighting the jihadists.

And Iraqi government forces backed by a US-led coalition last week staged a major operation against "IS remnants" in the northeast.

Anti-IS infighting

The US-backed campaign against ISIL in Syria has been complicated since Turkey-backed Arab militia last month began an offensive against Kurdish forces in the northwestern region of Afrin.

The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) have been a key component of the US-backed alliance fighting ISIL, but Washington's NATO ally Turkey says they are a "terrorist" offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

"We remain concerned over recent events in northwest Syria and call on all parties to remain focused on defeating ISIS (ISIL)," Tillerson said.

"We will continue to be completely transparent with Turkey about our efforts in Syria to defeat ISIS (ISIL)," he added, giving a nod to Turkey's right to "counterterrorism efforts" on its border.

Military vehicles are transported to border units from Turkey's Hatay province, February 11, 2018. /VCG Photo

Tillerson said the United States would nonetheless maintain an "ISIS (ISIL)-focused military presence in Syria" and "continue to train local security forces"－a reference to Washington's contentious Kurdish allies.

He said ISIL had the capacity to re-emerge in liberated territories of Iraq and Syria or elsewhere in the world.

"Every one of us must continue to adapt and strengthen our coalition to counter ISIS (ISIL)' own network of foreign fighters, financing and propaganda.

"We have seen in Iraq and Syria the consequences of an ISIS (ISIL) territorial presence. History must not be allowed to repeat itself elsewhere," Tillerson said.

6230km

Source(s): AFP