Us-Led Anti-Daesh Campaign Hitting New Phase

The anti-Daesh coalition led by the U.S. will soon embark on a new phase in its efforts to defeat the terror group in Syria and Iraq, America's top diplomat said Wednesday.



Addressing the 68-member coalition's ministerial meeting, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that as forces make the final push to eliminate Daesh, the coalition will begin shifting its priority to stabilization efforts.



Coalition forces will nevertheless remain "where this fraudulent caliphate has existed in order to set the conditions for a full recovery from the tyranny of ISIS", referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, another name for Daesh.



"A successful stabilization phase will set the stage for a successful normalization phase," he said at the State Department. "In the normalization phase local leaders and local governments will take on the process of restoring their communities in the wake of ISIS with our support."



In the recently liberated parts of east Mosul, coalition forces have assisted their Iraqi counterparts in clearing rubble and landmines, and restoring running water and power there.



Nearly 30,000 children have gone back to school in the area, Tillerson said.



He maintained that local partners will bear the brunt of the recovery effort. He said, "as a coalition, we are not in the business of nation building, or reconstruction".



"We must ensure that our respective nations' precious and limited resources are devoted to preventing the resurgence of ISIS," he said.



But he added: "We must keep making the investment in liberated areas in Iraq and Syria to help innocent people rebuild and stabilize their communities."



The U.S. currently provides 75 percent of the military resources in support of the local partners, with 25 percent coming from the rest of the coalition. That breakdown is reversed in terms of humanitarian and stabilization aid, according to Tillerson.



"The United States will do its part, but the circumstances on the ground require more from all of you," he said. "I ask each country to examine how it can best support these vital stabilization efforts, especially in regards to military and financial resources."



Tillerson hailed Turkey's efforts to combat Daesh, saying its Operation Euphrates Shield has successfully pushed Daesh off of Syria's northern border.



As Daesh faces its physical destruction, Tillerson warned that its online presence too must be checked.



"A digital caliphate must not flourish in the place of a physical one," he said. -