ShareWASHINGTON: Kuwaiti Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Al-Yahya commended the outcomes of the 10th Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, held in Washington on Monday. The meeting reaffirmed the commitment of the coalition members to coordination of the international actions against the terrorist organization of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS or Daesh), he said in post-event statements to KUNA.”The meeting, convened under a call from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, reaffirmed joint resolute action by the coalition members to dismantle the international networks of the ISIS and stem their future risks,” Minister Al-Yahya said.
“During the meeting, we have discussed with Iraq the progress of the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq, to be phased out in September of next year,” the Kuwaiti minister disclosed.
The United States had announced last month that the coalition mission in Iraq will come to a close in September 2025, but emphasized that troops will stay in the country and that the counter-ISIS mission will continue. The US and Iraq agreed on a two-phase transition plan for operations in Iraq with the first phase beginning in September and ending the same month next year. The second phase involves an “understanding to allow the coalition to continue to support counter-ISIS operations in Syria from Iraq ... until at least September 2026,” a US official had told reporters last month.
Minister Al-Yahya noted that he held talks on the fringes of the meeting with Secretary Blinken on a range of main topics of common concern. In his inaugural speech to the ministerial meeting, Secretary Blinken announced that the United States earmarked $148 million to strengthening border security and counter-terrorism operations in the Sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia, in addition to $168 million allocated to the stabilization of Iraq and Syria. — Agencies
