Ashton Carter monitoring situation post terror attacks: Pentagon

There have been a series of terror attacks recently in Turkey, Bangladesh, Iraq and Saudi Arabia

In the wake of a series of terror attacks in Turkey, Bangladesh, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter was closely monitoring the situation, the Pentagon has said.

"The (Defence) Secretary is closely monitoring the aftermath of the brutal terrorist attacks over the past few days in Turkey, Bangladesh, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Responsibility for these attacks has not been established in all cases, but speculation has centered on ISIL," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters at a news conference yesterday.

These tragic events, he said, highlight why it's so important to accelerate the coalition campaign to deliver ISIS a lasting defeat in Iraq and Syria to further limit the group's ability to carry out attacks in other parts of the world and to do all we can to prevent the spread of its hateful ideology.

"The attacks come as the counter-ISIL coalition has made progress in eroding ISIL's so-called caliphate, recapturing key terrain including major cities, infrastructure and economic nodes that provide ISIL with revenue and fuel its claims of legitimacy," he noted.

Cook said ISIS has lost the city of Fallujah, from which it has controlled much of western Iraq and launched attacks into Baghdad.

Iraqi security forces are making progress in clearing key terrain on the way to Mosul. Manbij, the final way station between ISIS's so-called Syrian capital and the Turkish border, is surrounded by a tightening cordon of Arab troops, he said.

"At the same time, ISIL's affiliates in places such as Libya, Afghanistan and East Africa are under intensifying pressure. This is notable and important progress from a year ago or six months ago, but as the tragedies in Turkey, Bangladesh, Iraq and Saudi Arabia demonstrate, there is still much work left to do," Cook said.

In fact, the military defeat of ISIS, while absolutely necessary to protect innocent lives from ISIS's brutality, is only one part of a strategy that calls for defeating ISIS in its parent tumor in Iraq and Syria, targeting its cancerous spread elsewhere in the world and strengthening security in the homeland against attacks planned or inspired by ISIS, he observed.

Cook said this week, NATO nations will convene in Warsaw, where discussions among the leaders assembled will include discussions on how to strengthen the campaign against ISIS. The meeting would be attended by President Barack Obama and Carter.

Later this month, Carter has convened fellow defense ministers from counter-ISIS coalition nations here in Washington to assess the campaign's progress and how to further accelerate it.

"Every day, the brave men and women of our armed forces are working alongside partner forces to end ISIL's ability to threaten innocent lives in the Middle East and around the world. And we remain committed to that mission," he said.