Senior diplomatic representatives from the Small Group of the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh/ISIS met today in a virtual setting to discuss the global campaign against Daesh/ISIS. U.S. Acting Special Envoy for the Global Coalition John Godfrey provided an update on progress in Iraq and Syria, and outlined the Coalition’s focus on defeating Daesh/ISIS global branches, including in Afghanistan and Africa.
In addressing the situation in Iraq, Special Envoy Godfrey stressed the need to intensify civilian counterterrorism capacity building efforts to help ensure the sustainable defeat of Daesh/ISIS within Iraq, and noted that the United States intends to continue its support for the Iraqi Security Forces even as it completes its transition away from a combat role. In Syria, stabilization efforts in areas liberated from Daesh/ISIS remain a core component of efforts to prevent a resurgence of Daesh/ISIS there. Coalition partners emphasized the importance of contributions to stabilization in areas of Iraq and Syria liberated from Daesh/ISIS – to date, Coalition partners have pledged more than $600 million against their 2021 goal of $670 million. Special Envoy Godfrey highlighted the ongoing security challenge posed by the thousands of ISIS fighters detained in northeast Syria and their associated family members in displaced persons camps, urging their repatriation to help prevent Daesh/ISIS from reconstituting capability in Iraq and Syria.
Coalition partners also discussed the growing threat posed by ISIS branches outside of Iraq and Syria, highlighting the horrific terrorist attack ISIS-K perpetrated on August 26 in Kabul and its ongoing terrorist campaign. Small Group representatives agreed to focus work in the D-ISIS Coalition’s Communications, Countering-ISIS Finance, and Foreign Terrorist Fighters Working Groups on countering the ISIS-K threat, drawing on expertise and capacity developed in the fight against Daesh/ISIS in Iraq and Syria. They also carried forward the important discussion from June at the D-ISIS Coalition Ministerial Meeting in Rome about leveraging Coalition expertise and working group capabilities to address the threat posed by ISIS branches in Africa.
Coalition partners reiterated their support for continued counterterrorism pressure against Daesh/ISIS in Iraq and Syria to consolidate gains there and affirmed their commitment to defeating ISIS globally, including in Afghanistan and Africa. The Coalition remains united and resolved in its determination to achieve the enduring defeat of Daesh/ISIS wherever it operates and to bringing its members to justice.