UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Security Council has called upon UN member states to fight “an unprecedented threat to international peace and security” posed by the militant Islamic State (IS) group.

All 15 members of the council voted on Friday night (Saturday in Pakistan) to adopt the resolution which was proposed by France.

The resolution called on member states “that have the capacity to do so to take all necessary measures, in compliance with international law... on the territory under the control of IS... in Syria and Iraq”.

Condemning “in the strongest terms” IS and other terrorist groups such Al-Nusrah Front, it urged countries to step up efforts to cut off the flow of foreign fighters to Iraq and Syria.

AFP adds: The measure called on all member states to “redouble and coordinate their efforts to prevent and suppress terrorist attacks” committed by IS and other extremist groups linked to Al Qaeda.

French President Francois Hollande welcomed the adoption of the resolution, saying it would “help mobilise nations to eliminate” IS, which claimed responsibility for the attacks that left 130 dead in Paris.

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said countries should now find concrete ways to shore up the fight “either through military action, the search for political solutions or the battle against terrorist financing”.

The resolution does not provide any legal basis for military action and does not invoke chapter seven of the UN charter that authorises the use of force.

But French diplomats maintained that it would provide important international political support to the anti-IS campaign that has been ramped up since the attacks in Paris a week ago.

“This resolution is a powerful international recognition of the threat posed by IS,” said British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft, who chairs the council this month.

The British envoy described it as a “call to action” to member states to join in international efforts to defeat IS.

Russia’s Ambassador Vitaly Churkin stressed that the resolution was a “political appeal” and did not “change the legal basis” for states confronting terrorism.

France’s bid for UN backing came after Russia submitted a revised text of a separate draft resolution that called for fighting the IS group with Syria’s consent.

That draft has been rejected by the United States, Britain and France, which are refusing to cooperate with President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

France put forward the resolution on Thursday and sought quick approval from the 15-member council.

The vote came exactly a week after coordinated attacks claimed by IS targeted a packed concert hall, football stadium, bars and restaurants in Paris.

Two weeks earlier, a Russian airliner was downed by a bomb, killing all 224 people on board, in an attack that IS claimed was carried out using explosives packed in a can of Schweppes soft drink.

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2015