WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Defense ministers from 11 countries-members of the US-led coalition against Daesh support near term deployment of additional capabilities to aid counter-terrorist forces on the ground, according to a joint statement issued on Wednesday.
"We reaffirmed our strong support to further accelerate and reinforce the success of our partners on the ground and for the deployment of additional enabling capabilities in the near term, in order to hasten the collapse of ISIL’s/Da’esh’s control over Mosul and Raqqa," the ministers stated.
The US-led international coalition of more than 60 members has been carrying out airstrikes against Daesh targets in Iraq and Syria since August and September 2014 respectively. Daesh is a terrorist group outlawed in the United States, Russia and numerous other countries.
"We called on all of Iraq's political leaders to commit themselves to the legal and peaceful reconciliation of political differences in order to confront the nation's challenges and to remain united against the common enemy of ISIL/Da’esh," the ministers stated.
Areas Cleared From Daesh Face 'Considerable' Funding Challenges
"We acknowledged the important work that is being done to stabilize areas cleared from ISIL/Da’esh," the ministers stated. "We also recognized the vast resource requirements of the stabilization effort and the considerable challenges that remain in funding those requirements."
The ministers underscored that success of stabilization efforts is essential to the outcome of the military campaign.
"We reiterated the commitment of our respective governments to contribute in various forms to the civilian stabilization effort," the ministers added.
The defense ministers of 11 countries, including the United States, France and the United Kingdom, issued the statement upon the conclusion of a meeting on strengthening the anti-Daesh campaign in Stuttgart, Germany.
The next meeting of ministers from the counter-Daesh coalition will take place later this year, according to the statement.
