US defence chief calls for more international action against Daesh

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter urged US allies Wednesday to intensify their actions against the Islamic State group and said Russia should get on "the right side" of the fight.

Carter made the calls for broader international action at a congressional hearing in which he outlined stepped-up US military efforts against the IS group in the wake of the attacks in Paris and California.

Among the new developments: Carter offered to supply the Iraqi army with attack helicopters and accompanying advisers "to finish the job" of retaking the city of Ramadi, which fell to IS in May.

After months of frustrating delays, he said, the army was beginning to move in on the city, and Iraqi army and counter-terrorism units were slipping into its neighborhoods from multiple sides.

Meanwhile, he said more needed to be done by all countries -- not just the United States -- to defeat IS.

"The international community –- including our allies and partners –- has to step up before another attack like Paris," Carter told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Turkey needed to do more to control its borders with Syria, and Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states had been distracted by the conflict in Yemen after taking part in the US-led air campaign early on, he said.

US allies and partners had been asked to help out with special operations forces, strike and reconnaissance aircraft and weapons and munitions, he said.

He credited France, Britain, Italy, and Germany with intensifying their role in the campaign and said the Netherlands also was considering doing more. 

"Meanwhile, Russia, which has publicly committed to defeating ISIL, has instead largely attacked opposition forces. It's time for Russia to focus on the right side of this fight."

Source: AFP