President Barack Obama has vowed that the US will continue making progress in its airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.
Obama made the comment Wednesday, two months after he authorised the first strikes on selective IS positions in Iraq and a few weeks after launching full scale attacks on the group in Syria, to analyse the results of the campaign.
"It remains a difficult mission. And we're confident that we will be able to continue to make progress in partnership with the Iraqi government, because ultimately it is going to be important for them to be able to, with our help, secure their own country and to find the kind of political accommodations that are necessary for long-term prosperity in the region," he said.
The president spoke to the press after meeting with defence chiefs, with whom he also analysed the Ebola crisis in West Africa, the Russian threat in Ukraine and the need for military cooperation and communication with China.
Regarding the IS, Obama affirmed that there was a general consensus among the nations around the world that the group was a threat to peace, security and world order, and that barbaric behaviour had to be "dealt with".
At the same time, the US government is also reviewing Turkey's petition to create a neutral zone along its border with Syria so as to shelter the displaced civilian population fleeing the IS.