ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The war against ISIS is not over, was the message from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in his remarks at a meeting of the global coalition to defeat ISIS in Washington on Wednesday.
“ISIS remains a menace, one that is our generation’s responsibility to stop,” said Pompeo.
ISIS was declared defeated in Iraq in December 2017 and US President Donald Trump controversially said the group had also been defeated in Syria in December 2018. His administration has since worked to walk back the premature declaration.
Washington has remained committed, however, to pulling US soldiers out of Syria.
Pompeo explained the withdrawal as a “tactical change – it is not a change in the mission.”
He pledged that the withdrawal would be well-coordinated with allies and that the US goals in Syria “remain unchanged.”
In outlining strategy for the war on the now “decentralized jihad” of ISIS in 2019 he urged support for Baghdad.
“The bad news in Iraq is that recent headlines show that ISIS retains a real presence there and is trying to mount a clandestine insurgency,” he said, calling on coalition members to stay committed to helping the government of Iraq.
Iraq’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed Ali al-Hakim, speaking after Pompeo, asked for help fighting ISIS sleeper cells, especially with continued training and equipment.
Iraqi forces daily carry out operations against small ISIS groups and sleeper cells. On Wednesday, security forces in Saladin province, with coalition air support, killed eight ISIS militants who were hiding underground.
A new report from the United Nations estimated that there are some 14,000 to 18,000 ISIS militants still remaining in Iraq and Syria – 3,000 of them are foreign fighters.
ISIS remains the biggest terror threat worldwide and “has shown a determination to resist and the capability to counter-attack,” read the report from UN sanctions monitors.