Canada excluded from anti-Islamic State coalition meeting

Kerry said the coalition had upped its engagement significantly, noting that defence chiefs from the United States, France, Britain and four other countries had pledged to intensify the fight.

“We said that we will be ready to more closely coordinate our actions with the American coalition in this direction”.

The U.S. has mapped out a coordinated campaign against the Islamic State over the next year, and Carter laid out the plans to the ministers during a meeting hosted with France.

US and coalition forces are battling Islamic State militants in the skies and on the ground across Iraq and Syria.

Meanwhile, the Islamic State group on Tuesday confirmed the death of British extremist “Jihadi John”, saying he was killed in a drone strike in their Syrian stronghold of Raqa in November.

But the coalition faces major challenges, particularly the lack of ground forces willing to fight IS in Syria, since most groups are focused on toppling Assad. “But I think they can do more”.

The defense official said the five other mainly European coalition countries that Carter met with this week also support the effort. Washington especially wants greater participation from Arab and Asian nations. The defense ministers are scheduled to hold a meeting next month with all 26 military members of the anti-ISIS campaign in Brussels, including Gulf Arab states.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists, medics, and fighters across Syria for information on Isis, published what it said was an official statement from the militant group announcing the cuts.

He’s extended President Obama’s metaphor likening the militant group to a cancer.

The US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter explained the decision to conduct a ground operation as a desire “to accelerate the process of” victory over the “Islamic State”.

“I’m increasingly disturbed by the Russian bombing”, Fallon told reporters in Paris.

The United States has carried out the bulk of the almost 9,800 air strikes launched in Iraq and Syria since the summer of 2014.

The U.S. has already asked allies to increase their contributions, including special operations forces, fighter jet and reconnaissance aircraft, weapons and munitions, training and other combat support. And one of the several key priorities is trainers.

He said New Zealand trainers had helped upgrade the skill and capability of the Iraqi forces and that had helped them take the city of Ramadi. In response Carter said that this was a gathering of countries that have been the most active in Iraq and Syria.

The Pentagon estimates that ISIS has lost 20-30 percent of the total territory they were in control of in Iraq and Syria, including up to 40 percent in Iraq alone.

But U.S. officials have declined to set a timeline for what could be a long-term campaign that also requires political reconciliation to ultimately succeed.