UN Security Council unanimously approves war on Daesh

The United Nations Security Council has called for “all necessary measures” to fight Daesh Takfiri terrorists after France presented a draft resolution to the 15-member council calling for a war on the terror group.

The French-proposed resolution, which was adopted unanimously in a Security Council meeting, calls on all countries to “take the war on terrorism” to Daesh-controlled territory in Syria and Iraq and destroy its “safe haven,” the council said in a statement on Friday.

The statement also warned that the Takfiri group “has the capability and intention” to mount further deadly attacks like the ones it launched on Paris and Beirut last week. It added that the threat posed by Daesh would make all regions and member states, even those far from the conflict zones, suffer.

During the November 13 Paris attacks, Daesh terrorists killed 132 people and wounded some 350 others, a day after they killed 44 people and injured some 240 others in twin blasts in the Lebanese capital.

“By its violent extremist ideology, its terrorist acts, its continued gross systematic and widespread attacks directed against civilians, abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, including those driven on religious or ethnic ground, its eradication of cultural heritage and trafficking of cultural property,” Daesh issued “a global and unprecedented threat to international peace and security,” the Security Council stressed.

It also urged member states to boost efforts to block the flow of foreign terrorists to Iraq and Syria, and choke the financing of the terror group, reiterating that those responsible for terrorist acts, violations of international humanitarian law must be held accountable.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius welcomed the adoption and said that the resolution revealed the world’s resolve to fight Daesh terrorists.

“It is now important for all countries to commit themselves in a concrete manner to this fight, either through military action, the search for political solutions or the battle against terrorist financing," Fabius was quoted as saying by AFP.

The resolution, however, stopped short of providing any legal basis for military action.

Meanwhile, Syrian Ambassador to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari said ahead of Friday’s vote that this resolution was long overdue. 

“Welcome to everybody who finally woke up and joined the club of combating terrorists,” Jaafari noted.

The resolution was adopted as Russia, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, has already launched a heavy air campaign against Daesh Takfiris in Syria since September 30 upon a request from the Syrian government.

A so-called US-led coalition against purported Daesh positions in Iraq also started in August last year. A similar coalition began in Syria a month later but without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate.

However, many observers say that while the US and its allies claim they are fighting terrorist groups like Daesh, they in fact helped create and train those groups to advance their policies in the Middle East.

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