US Coalition Needs to Stay in Iraq After Defeat of Daesh - Pentagon Chief

In order to nip Daesh's resurgence efforts in the bud (if the terrorist group will finally be crushed), the US-led coalition should continue its military engagement and stay in Iraq in particular, the Pentagon chief said.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US and allied forces should stay in Iraq after Daesh terrorists are defeated, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California.

"To make sure that once defeated ISIL [Daesh] stays defeated we need to continue to counter foreign fighters trying to escape and ISIL’s attempts to relocate or reinvent itself. To do so, not only the US but the coalition must endure and remain militarily engaged," Carter said Saturday.

"In Iraq in particular, it will be necessary for the coalition to provide sustained assistance and carry on our work to train, equip and support local police, border guards and other forces to hold areas cleared of ISIL," he continued.

Carter said the US-led international coalition’s campaign had delivered "significant results" on the ground since last year and the militants were on a path to lasting defeat.

In the Daesh stronghold of Mosul in northern Iraq, local security forces have isolated the city with the help of the coalition’s airstrikes, he said, and are taking back eastern districts on their way westward.