WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States will host an international exchange program this week to discuss how best to combat the ISIL’s brand of violent extremism, the US State Department said in a press release.
"As part of the State Department’s ongoing efforts to counter violent extremism, 11 high-level government representatives from Counter-ISIL [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] Coalition countries will begin a US exchange program this week aimed at discrediting and de-legitimizing ISIL’s brand of violent extremism," the release stated on Monday.
"This exchange provides opportunities to enhance international cooperation to counter violent extremism through substantive discussions between the participants and US officials, private sector messaging and branding experts, and non-governmental and community actors," the release noted.
The discussions, hailed "Countering Radical Ideologies," will last two weeks and will take place in Washington, DC, New York City and San Francisco, according to US State Department.
The ISIL is a Sunni extremist group that uses online propaganda to lure young Westerners into joining the group abroad or conduct terrorist attacks in their home countries. In 2014, the ISIL took vast territories in Iraq and Syria under control, declaring the establishment of an Islamic caliphate and forcing thousands of people to flee.
