British Foreign Secretary Hammond meets Prime Minister of Iraqi Kurdistan

Описание: (13 Oct 2014) British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond met with the Prime Minister of Iraq's Kurdish region Nechirvan Barzani in Irbil on Monday to discuss the military and political campaign against the Islamic State group.
Hammond spoke of the ongoing commitments from the International community to bring about an end to the Islamic State group; "Undermining the ideology, cutting off the funding flows, and challenging ISIL."
He praised the Kurdish military, known as the Peshmerga forces for their part in the fight against IS and thanked the Kurdish people for the "genuine hospitality that you've shown to so many displaced people."
The Kurdish leader meanwhile, said that Islamic State militants are well equipped with heavy weaponry and to defeat them, the Peshmerga forces will need to be better armed.
"It is clear that we need more advanced heavy weapons, anti-tank, you know more helicopters and more advanced weapons to fight against this ISIS," said Barzani.
On Monday, the battle continued to rage on Turkey's border as Islamic State fighters carried out at least three suicide bombings in the Syrian border town of Kobani, allowing the group to make a small push into the strategic town, activists said.
The Defence Secretary told the news conference in Irbil that mobilising resources for immediate response to the crisis in Kobani would be difficult, however they are looking into a more long-term plan to address the situation.
"I am confident that in the long term the international coalition will be able to provide the strategic underpinning of the efforts that are going on both in Syria and in Iraq to beat back the challenge from ISIL," he said.
Islamic State extremists have carved out a vast stretch of territory from northern Syria to the outskirts of Baghdad where they have imposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law.
Hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled into Turkey from Syria ahead of the militants.


Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...