UNITED NATIONS: US President Barack Obama told a UN counter-terrorism conference on Tuesday that the United States was using the lessons it had learnt in Afghanistan and Pakistan to fight ISIL (an acronym for the self-styled Islamic State) extremists.

President Obama was speaking at the “Summit on Countering ISIL and Violent Extremism.”

The US Department of State has designated 10 individuals and five groups as specially designated global terrorists. All are affiliated with the extremist organisation.

The US also imposed new sanctions on these groups and individuals to cut off their sources of financing. The individuals include four British and three French citizens.

“We’re pursuing a comprehensive strategy that is informed by our success over many years in crippling the Al Qaeda core in the tribal regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he said. “And we are harnessing all of our tools” to combat them.

Mr Obama said that extremists in Syria could only be defeated if President Bashar al-Assad stepped down.

“In Syria, defeating ISIL requires, I believe, a new leader,” he told the summit, attended by more than 100 leaders from across the world.

On Monday, Mr Obama sparred with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Syria as Mr Putin declared that only President Assad could defeat IS extremists.

Mr Obama, however, argued that it were Mr Assad’s policies that destabilised Syria and created such groups.—M. H. and A. I.

Published in Dawn, September 30th , 2015

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