BERLIN
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday underlined the need for long-term action and the broadest possible coalition against the self-proclaimed Islamic State - an extremist group that is leading an insurgency in Iraq.
“We cannot obtain success against IS overnight. It will take a long time,” Merkel told German lawmakers during a budget debate at parliament.
“This fight will be successful in the end as new alliances with the U.S., EU and many partners from Arab states are under formation,” Merkel said.
At the NATO summit in Wales last week, ten states, including Germany, established an alliance against the militants of the Islamic State group.
Merkel said on Wednesday that the IS has become a serious security challenge.
“Without doubt there is an existential threat for Christians, Ezidis, Turkmen and other minorities in Iraq,” Merkel stressed.
"The fight against the IS requires a determined and close cooperation of all those who are against the oppression and barbaric extermination of the minorities. Therefore, an alliance with as many states as possible standing against the IS is important.”
The German government decided last month to provide military equipment, weapons and ammunition for the Iraqi Kurdish regional government to support the peshmerga forces in their fight against IS militants. Berlin also offered military training to Kurdish forces but excluded sending ground troops to Iraq to join the fight against IS.
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