Security

'The enduring defeat of ISIS in Syria and Iraq remains the coalition's top priority': Global Coalition

"We will use all available tools in the pursuit of that goal and we will not relent until ISIS no longer constitutes a threat."

Dler S. Mohammed 2022/02/10 09:20

U.S. Army Paratroopers with the 82nd Airborne Division, deploy from Pope Army Airfield, N.C., Jan. 1, 2020. The Immediate Response Force is being deployed to Baghdad (Photo: Capt. Robyn Haake/U.S. Army)

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ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Global Coalition on Countering ISIS Globally reaffirmed in a statement on Wednesday that the enduring defeat of ISIS in Syria and Iraq remains the Coalition's top priority.

"We will continue to leverage the Coalition's expertise to counter Daesh/ISIS's global branches and networks and to bring its members to justice," read the statement of the Global Coalition on Countering ISIS Globally. "We will use all available tools in the pursuit of that goal and we will not relent until ISIS no longer constitutes a threat."

The statement emphasized that the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS remains firmly committed to achieving the enduring defeat of ISIS. It added that recent events in Syria underscore both the success they continue to have in degrading ISIS leadership and the continuing threat the terrorist group poses in the region and beyond.

"The removal of Daesh/ISIS leader Muhammad Said Abd al-Rahman al-Mawla, also known as Abd Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, from the battlefield was another significant blow to the terrorist organization," read the statement. "We as a Coalition will sustain the necessary pressure to deny any Daesh/ISIS attempt to reconstitute or to retake and hold territory in Syria and Iraq."

Syrians gather on Feb. 3, 2022 at the scene following an overnight raid by US special operations forces against suspected terrorists in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib. (Photo: Aaref Watad/AFP)

On Feb. 3, in describing the military operation that killed Qurayshi, US President Biden affirmed, "We'll continue working with our close allies and partners, the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Iraqi Security Forces, including the Kurdish Peshmerga, and more than 80 members of the Global Coalition to keep pressure on ISIS."

US President Joe Biden speaks about the counterterrorism operation in Syria from the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, Feb. 3, 2022. (Photo: Saul Loe/AFP)

International media reported that the Special Forces team had flown out of Erbil, a reminder of the important role played by the Kurdistan Region as a secure base for anti-ISIS operations conducted by the US-led coalition.

"The swift actions of our local partners – at the cost of casualties to their forces – to halt the attack against the Hasakah detention center denied Daesh/ISIS's attempt to replenish its forces with detainees housed there, added the statement.

On Jan. 20, about 200 ISIS terrorists attacked Hasakah's al-Sina'a detention center in coordination with fellow terrorists imprisoned inside. The prison holds 3,500 suspected ISIS members, including hundreds of foreigners.

The Global Coalition's statement pointed out that the attack highlighted the vulnerability of temporary makeshift detention centers and the importance of fully resourcing Coalition initiatives to ensure the secure detention of ISIS members.