LONDON, January 22 (Sputnik) — Britain's Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said Thursday the international coalition, set up to roll back the Islamic State (IS) offensive in the Middle East, will retrain and re-equip the Iraqi army to make it more effective.
"We’ve had an update today from [US] General [John] Allen on the work to rebuild, re-equip and retrain the Iraqi security forces allowing them in due course to push ISIL back and reassert Iraqi sovereignty over all the territory of Iraq," Hammond said after a meeting of 21 coalition members in London.
"Today’s meeting confirmed the determination of our broad and united coalition to defeat not only ISIL but also the ideology that underlies it and not just in Iraq and Syria but wherever it rears its head," he stated.
Hammond added that the allies had confirmed their commitment "to the struggle however long it takes and where ever it leads us to defeating the scourge of violent Islamist extremism".
The meeting in London was attended by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi. The Iraqi official called on allies to increase lethal aid to his country.
The United Kingdom has been part of a large coalition of more than 60 countries working together to defeat the IS grouping in Syria and western Iraq. To assist the Iraqi government, the Royal Air Force has launched multiple airstrikes against IS targets over the past five months.
