US, allies agree to step up war on ISIL: Carter

The US and six of its allies have agreed to escalate the military campaign against the Daesh (ISIL) Takfiri group, US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter says.

Speaking at a joint press conference with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian on Wednesday, Carter noted that France and defense ministers from five other nations will work together to fill the military requirements as the fight unfolds over the coming months, according to AP.

The remarks came after Carter and Le Drian co-hosted a Paris meeting with ministers from Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK.

"Every nation must come prepared to discuss further contributions to the fight and I will not hesitate to engage and challenge current and prospective members of the coalition as we go forward," Carter said after the meeting.

They are currently mapping out their coordinated efforts against the terror group over the course of next year, the AP added.

Carter also announced that all 26 nations participating in the US-led coalition will meet in Brussels next month to continue the talks. Iraq will also attend the meeting.

US to destroy Daesh power centers

Carter also told reporters that destroying the terror group’s main power centers in Syria and Iraq is the main objective of the coalition.

The Pentagon chief noted that the aim was to "destroy the ISIL cancer's parent tumor in Iraq and Syria by collapsing its two power centers in Raqqah and Mosul."

"Second, to combat the metastasis of the ISIL tumor worldwide," he added.

Earlier, the top US military official highlighted the importance of bringing in Arab partners in the region who could make "enormous contributions" to defeat the foreign-backed militant group.

Since August 2014, Washington and its allies have been conducting airstrikes against what they call Daesh positions in Iraq and later on in Syria.

Latest data released by the US military shows that there have been 9,627 US-led coalition air strikes as of January 13, with 6,393 in Iraq and 3,234 in Syria.

Pentagon officials claim that at least 25,000 Daesh fighters have been killed since the onset of the US airstrikes. However, the CIA has admitted that the size of the group remains wholly unchanged.

This is while, last week the Council of Foreign Relations (CRF), a New York-based think tank, estimated that, in 2015, the US dropped 23,144 bombs on six Muslim-majority countries, including Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.

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