US, Russia agree to share intelligence on Islamic State

The United States and Russia have agreed to share intelligence on the Islamic State (IS) group after global military leaders met up in the United States on Tuesday to discuss how to combat the armed group.

“This is going to be a long-term campaign,” US President Barack Obama told defence ministers from 22 countries, without hinting at a change in the current US strategy hcih mainly involves air strikes against IS targets. “There are no quick fixes involved. We are still in the early stages. As with any military effort, there will be days of progress and there are going to be periods of setbacks, but our coalition is united behind this long-term effort.”
Obama said that he was “deeply concerned” about the advances that IS have made in Iraq’s Anbar province and in Syria, particularly in the Kurdish town of Kobane that lies on the border with Turkey. He said that US air strikes against IS will continue in both countries and that “important successes” have already been made in stooping the armed group in places such as Erbril and Mosul.

A US military officials told Reuters news agency that there was an acknowledgement after the talks that IS had advanced on the ground, despite the ongoing air strikes.

“In the short term, there are some gains that IS have been able to make,” the official said. “In the long term, that momentum will be reversed.”

US Secretary of State John Kerry also met up with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing situation in Iraq and Syria. Kerry said that the US was ready to “intensify intelligence cooperation with respect to IS and counterterrorism challenges of the region”.

Kerry said that Moscow was ready to explore whether it could do more to help arm and train the Iraqi military but gave no indication as to whether Russia will join the US-led coalition against the armed group.

He said that Russia is concerned at the possibility of Russian fighters joining IS and then returning to Russia to carry out attacks.

“There may be as many as 500 or more [IS fighters] from Russia,” Kerry said. These include people from Russia’s predominantly Muslim North Caucasus, a region where Islamic rebels have waged daily violence in their attempts to establish an Islamic State.

Meanwhile, US-led airstrikes against the Islamic State in Kobane have intensified in recent days. They conducted 21 air strikes on Monday and Tuesday and believe they have slowed IS advances in the country, the US military said. However, they cautioned that the situation in the town remains volatile.