The US is accelerating its efforts to eliminate ISIS.

(Baonghean.vn) - The US is seeking new military, counterterrorism, and diplomatic ideas to defeat the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) group more quickly, Secretary of State John Kerry said on November 23, acknowledging the difficulty in eliminating extremists who have exploited four years of turmoil in the Middle East to become a global threat. He said greater military cooperation with Russia could occur under appropriate conditions.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan speak to the media after visiting the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on November 23. Photo: AP.

Kerry spoke during a meeting with senior Arab officials in the United Arab Emirates, and against the backdrop of tightened security in Brussels, Belgium, due to terrorist threats. The Obama administration faces domestic and international pressure to intensify the fight against ISIS following the November 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people. Obama will meet with French President Francois Hollande in Washington today (November 24).

Speaking to reporters, Kerry said: “The key issue is to quickly defeat ISIS in Syria and Iraq. I want us to move faster, and that’s what the President expects.”

The top US diplomat asserted that Obama is asking the entire US government to develop new concepts to accelerate the fight. He said that some measures had been taken prior to the Paris attacks, such as the decision to deploy a portion of US special forces to Syria and current efforts to achieve a ceasefire between the Syrian government and rebel groups.

However, Kerry did not provide any further specific additions to this strategy following the events in Paris.

He also did not mention countries that would allow large-scale ground troop deployments in Syria, as some presidential candidates have suggested. And he rejected the idea of ​​a no-fly zone in Syria, which was proposed last week by former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Kerry said it was "not a new idea."

Kerry did not rule out the possibility of greater cooperation with Russia, something that Hollande is expected to ask Obama to pursue. Obama and other U.S. officials believe that Russia must first limit its airstrikes targeting ISIS and other extremist groups, and not target moderate forces backed by the West.

In another development, the US military said it destroyed 283 ISIS vehicles used to transport oil from production fields in eastern Syria to smuggling points in a surge in attacks targeting one of ISIS's most important sources of revenue.

The attack, involving four A-10 attack aircraft and two AC-130 gunboats, was carried out on November 21st near Deir el-Zour and al-Hasakah, but was not announced until November 23rd. Prior to that, a similar attack on November 15th destroyed 116 oil tankers in a coordinated operation aimed at disrupting the organization's oil revenue streams.

Kerry said that ISIS “is losing ground, losing territory, towns, manpower, and oil revenue.” However, they are receiving support from other terrorist groups around the world, making the task of eliminating them even more urgent.

Thu Giang

(According to AP)