Kerry calls for united efforts to counter IS

The U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday called on countries of the coalition against the Islamic State (IS) to stay united and committed to the mission of defeating the extremist group.

"If we stay united, if we stay committed to this mission, if we continue to be creative, if we continue to develop our initiatives as we have, we will not only defeat Daesh (IS), we will make our world a safer place," Kerry said at the Counter-ISIL (IS) Ministerial Meeting held in Washington.

Kerry urged countries of the coalition to enhance information-sharing, which has played a key role in the effort to prevent foreign terrorist fighters from traveling to Syria and Iraq.

"We have to keep breaking down the structural and the bureaucratic barriers in order to be able to exchange up-to-date information even more quickly and more widely," Kerry told diplomatic and defense representatives from more than 40 countries.

He said the coalition and its partners on the ground have driven IS out of nearly half the territory it once occupied in Iraq and 20 percent in Syria, and the number of IS fighters has gone down by at least a third.

"So today, we can look forward without exaggeration to a time when Daesh (IS) is driven completely out of Iraq and Syria," Kerry said.

But the top U.S. diplomat also acknowledged that the coalition has more work to do and the mission of defeating IS will not be easy.

"Everybody here knows that Daesh (IS) is still going to be dangerous. Unlike some violent extremist groups, Daesh is resilient and realistic enough to know when it needs to change," Kerry said. Endit