News / Military

Despite Obama's remarks, US has not 'contained' ISIL terrorists

Wednesday, 02 December 2015 1:40 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 02 December 2015 1:58 AM ]

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford speaks during a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill December 1, 2015 in Washington, DC. (AFP)

A top military officer says the US has “not contained” the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in Iraq and Syria, despite what President Barack Obama had said.

US Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Tuesday, “We have not contained ISIL,” contradicting Obama’s reassuring remarks to ABC News last month just before the terrorist attacks in Paris.

General Dunford added that the Daesh Takfiris have been “tactically” contained in areas in Iraq and Syria since 2010, but “strategically, they have spread since 2010.”

He was giving testimony alongside Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, who announced that the US would expand its special operations force in Iraq and Syria to help fight ISIL.

Obama, who is in Paris for talks on an international climate change agreement, has also used the trip to meet with world leaders about the threat from Daesh stating that, “In some ways, [climate change] is akin to the problem of terrorism and ISIL.”

Prior to the deadly Paris attacks, Obama said he does not think the Takfiri militants were "gaining strength."

"What is true is that from the start, our goal has been first to contain, and we have contained them," Obama said.

The militants have been committing vicious crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in Iraq and Syria, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians in the areas under their control.

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