Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi speaks at a press conference with Jordan's Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. (AP)
Iraqi PM Abadi hails ‘acceleration of support’ against ISIS
The premier said there were enough fighters on the ground but they needed arms and equipment to defeat the militants
Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said Monday there had been a recent “acceleration of support” from the U.S.-led coalition in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group.
In an interview with the BBC, Abadi said there were enough fighters on the ground but they needed arms and equipment to defeat the militants.
“I was a bit frustrated in my first three months of being a prime minister because of the slowness of this support but I’ve seen in the last probably four weeks, five weeks, there is an acceleration of the support,” Abadi added.
“I think the air bombing and the air campaign has increased in its intensity and its quality.”
ISIS, has seized swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq and imposed an extreme interpretation of Islam in the areas under its control.
The international air campaign against ISIS was launched in Iraq in August and expanded to Syria the following month.
There have been over 2,000 air strikes on the militants so far.
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