Earlier in the day, representatives of 23 countries of the US-led coalition fighting the Daesh extremists arrived in Rome to assess and renew their struggle against the terrorists.
"We are aware that ISIL/Da’esh [Islamic State] poses a terrorist threat to our own homelands, as demonstrated by its heinous and barbaric terrorist attacks in Turkey, France and elsewhere, while noting ISIL/Da’esh is losing both territory and credibility in Iraq and Syria. We are committed to further strengthening coordination and cooperation between our intelligence, security and law-enforcement agencies in order to improve our preventive capacities," the statement read.
"We will intensify and accelerate the campaign against ISIL/Da’esh in Iraq and Syria, act in concert to curb its global ambitions and take every measure to ensure the protection of our citizens. We reaffirm our commitment to deliver a lasting defeat to this barbaric organization," they stressed in the statement.
The meeting within the framework of the so-called Small Group took place at the Italian Foreign Ministry in Rome. It was chaired by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni.
Previous meetings of the Small Group were held in January and June 2015 in London and Paris, respectively.
