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Islamic State losing ground in Iraq, Syria: Obama
He assured his commitment to the new Libyan government in securing the country.
Asserting that Islamic State is losing ground in Iraq and Syria, U.S. President Barack Obama has said Washington's mission is to destroy the group.
"I want to reiterate our objective in this fight. Our mission is to destroy ISIL. Since I last updated the American people on our campaign two months ago, we've seen that this continues to be a difficult fight - but we are making significant progress. Over the past two months, I've authorized a series of steps to ratchet up our fight against ISIL," Obama said in an official statement.
Obama warned the ISIS that they would not be safe if they target America and its allies.
He also highlighted that Islamic state continues to lose grounds both in Iraq and Syria.
"Our coalition continues to be on offense. ISIL is on defense. And it's now been a full year since ISIL has been able to mount a major successful offensive operation in either Syria or Iraq," Obama said.
"As ISIL continues to lose territory, it also continues to lose the money that is its lifeblood. As a result of our strikes against its oil infrastructure and supply lines, we believe that we've cut ISIL's revenue from oil by millions of dollars per month. In destroying the storage sites where they keep their cash, we've deprived ISIL of many millions more," he added.
President Obama said the Islamic State's ranks are also shrinking.
"Their morale is sinking. As one defector said, ISIL is not bringing Islam to the world and people need to know that. Thanks to international efforts, the flow of foreign fighters, including from America, to Syria and Iraq has plummeted," Obama said.
The U.S. President asserted that its intelligence community now assesses that the ranks of ISIS fighter has been reduced to the lowest levels in more than two and a half years.
"Even as we continue to destroy ISIL militarily, we're addressing larger forces that have allowed these terrorists to gain traction in parts of the world. With regard to Iraq, this means helping Iraqis stabilise liberated communities and promote inclusive governance so ISIL cannot return," he said.
He assured his commitment to the new Libyan government in securing the country.
He also pressed that Islamic State continues to lose its key leaders, adding that Washington has taken out more than 120 top ISIL leaders and commanders.
