RIYADH: A two-day conference of the global coalition of 14 countries against Daesh focused on identifying operational needs to defeat the terrorist group, according to a statement released Sunday.
The statement highlighted participants’ agreement to hold general and bilateral meetings at the level of army chiefs of staff and their representatives in allied states, as well as the commander of US Central Command.
The statement welcomed participants’ continued efforts to defeat Daesh. Participants affirmed their support for Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield to fight the group in Syria.
They also condemned abuses committed by Daesh, describing them as crimes against humanity.
“The next necessary and essential steps to combat Daesh in the region have been discussed and agreed upon during the last meeting,” Gen. Ahmed Asseri, who attended the conference, told Arab News. “Today we are re-emphazing the strategy and coordinate the joint efforts to combat Daesh, and to ensure that the sought-after results can be achieved in the shortest time frame. This is through the commitment and resources for this operation to bring stability through the efforts of the coalition forces comprised of Islamic and brotherly countries to defeat Daesh.”
Coalition members Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, the US, Bahrain, Turkey, Tunisia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco and Nigeria took part in the meeting.
The attendees stressed the need to take necessary measures to eliminate Daesh and prevent it from spreading.
They also urged the international community to promote the rights of people that terrorist organizations use to justify their attacks to prevent the emergence of more extremist groups.
Participants agreed to take appropriate and necessary steps to address a post-Daesh future, and to tackle the propaganda of extremist organizations.
During the sessions, the participants explored how to raise the level of coordination between the participating countries in the coalition and to determine and understand the current challenges facing the region and the latest developments on the fight against Daesh terrorist group.
Gen. Abdulrahman Al-Bunyan, chief of the General Staff of Saudi Arabia, welcomed the participating countries. He said the conference comes as an extension to the previous conferences at the level of general chiefs of staff held in the Kingdom with participation of several countries in the fight against terror groups, of which Daesh is the most dangerous one.
The conference assembly stems from the Kingdom’s conviction of the danger of terrorism and its negative impact on the security and stability of the region and the world as well, he said.
“Kingdom was, and still is, at the forefront of countries exposed to terrorism and is vigorously working to fight it whether in terms of thought, finance, media, or military capabilities,” he said.
“Our strong participation and implementation of the objectives of the coalition will reflect positively on the security and stability of our nations and countries and the world at large. It will also ensure the success of the social and development programs,” he added.
Al-Bunyan said that it is important that coalition members better understand of the strategies adopted in the operations against Daesh, stressing that more countries should join the coalition as this represent a global threat that is not only facing the coalition member states but also the rest of the world the international stability.
