Since the last meeting of the Coalition’s Foreign Ministers, in Washington DC in March 2017, significant progress has been made in operations to defeat Daesh. Across Iraq and Syria, 7.7 million people have been liberated from under Daesh control. In October 2017, our Syrian partners liberated the city of Raqqa, and on December 9th 2017, the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced that Daesh no longer held territory in Iraq. The Coalition has also made progress in tackling Daesh propaganda online – their output was 85% less in October 2017 than at its peak in August 2015.
This progress is welcome, but the Coalition remains united in its belief that its work is not yet done. In Kuwait, we will reaffirm our commitment to defeating Daesh as a territorial threat, dismantling its networks and denying its freedom of movement, combating its ideology to prevent its re-emergence and disrupting its financial networks and funding sources. We must also remain committed to stabilising liberated communities in an inclusive manner, to secure the gains made against the group.