Air strikes alone won’t defeat Islamic State, Kerry warns

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (C) takes his seat to participate in the OSCE Ministerial Council …

At a meeting of foreign ministers in Belgrade, US Secretary of State John Kerry warned on Thursday that it would take more than airstrikes to stop fighters with the so-called “Islamic State” (IS) and that Syrian or Arab ground forces would be necessary.

“I think we know it, that without the ability to find some ground forces that are prepared to take on DAESH (IS), this will not be won completely from the air”, Kerry told delegates a gathering of dozens of foreign ministers in Belgrade.

He said he was referring to Syrian or Arab forces.

Kerry said he called on each of the other 27 members of alliance to do more to strike at the extremist group’s core in Iraq and Syria and strangle its worldwide networks.

He says several countries are bringing more to the battle or will do soon.

The secretary also said that Iraq’s government was briefed in advance of the US announcement of new special forces in the region. Commenting on the U.S. decision to dispatch 100 commandos to fight ISIL in Iraq and Syria, Al- Jarallah said that Kuwait welcomes any move that helps boost the efficiency of the anti-ISIL coalition.

“As long as they’re focused on Daesh and as long they are genuine in wanting to be part of implementing the Geneva (accords), they can be an extremely constructive and important player in reaching a solution”, Kerry said after a meeting of foreign ministers from the 28 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation states in Brussels. “We applaud his leadership”.

Kerry met his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on the sidelines of the OSCE meeting, with Washington and Moscow at odds over the fate of Assad more than four years into a war that has killed over 250,000 people.

“It is not clear that he (Assad) would have to go if there was clarity with respect to what his future might or might not be”, Kerry said.

“If we get the political transition in place we empower every nation and every entity to come together, the Syrian army together with the opposition… together with Russian Federation, the United States and others to go and fight (against) DAESH”, Kerry said in Belgrade.

He believes that would allow the “scourge” of IS to be eliminated much faster. He said Turkey’s downing of the jet was a “treacherous war crime”.