US defence secretary follows up attacks in Turkey, Bangladesh, Turkey, Saudi Arabia

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter is closely monitoring the aftermath of the brutal terrorist attacks over the past few days in Turkey, Bangladesh, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

“Responsibility for these attacks has not been established in all cases, but speculation has centered on Daesh,” Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said during a press briefing.

“These tragic events once again highlight why it's so important to accelerate the coalition campaign to deliver Daesh a lasting defeat in Iraq and Syria to further limit the group's ability to carry out attacks in other parts of the world and to do all we can to prevent the spread of its hateful ideology.”

The attacks come as the counter-Daesh coalition has made progress in eroding the group's so-called caliphate, recapturing key terrain including major cities, infrastructure and economic nodes that provide Daesh with revenue and fuel its claims of legitimacy, Cook said.

Today, Daesh has lost the city of Fallujah, from which it has controlled much of western Iraq and launched attacks into Baghdad. Iraqi security forces are making progress in clearing key terrain on the way to Mosul. Manbij, the final way station between Daesh’s so-called Syrian capital and the Turkish border, is surrounded by a tightening cordon of Arab troops.

At the same time, Daesh’s affiliates in places such as Libya, Afghanistan and East Africa are under intensifying pressure. This is notable and important progress from a year ago or six months ago, but as the tragedies in Turkey, Bangladesh, Iraq and Saudi Arabia demonstrate, there is still much work left to do.

In fact, the military -- the military defeat of Daesh in Iraq and Syria, while absolutely necessary to protect innocent lives from the group's brutality, is only one part of a strategy that calls for defeating Daesh in its parent tumor in Iraq and Syria, targeting its cancerous spread elsewhere in the world and strengthening security in the homeland against attacks planned or inspired by Daesh.

This week, NATO nations will convene in Warsaw, where discussions among the leaders assembled will include discussions on how to strengthen the campaign against Daesh. Secretary Carter will attend, along with President Barrack Obama, and looks forward discussing the latest in the effort to deliver Daesh a lasting defeat, he added.

“And later this month, Carter will also convene fellow defense ministers from counter-Daesh coalition nations here in Washington to assess the campaign's progress and how to further accelerate it. And every day, the brave men and women of our armed forces are working alongside partner forces to end Daesh’s ability to threaten innocent lives in the Middle East and around the world. And we remain committed to that mission.”

Source: MENA