US, allies have not been able to sufficiently stop IS in Syria

The US and its allies have been successful in checking the growth of Islamic State but they have not been able to sufficiently stop the terror group in Syria, US Secretary of State John Kerry said today.
"I believe Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is being checked, but it is not being yet sufficiently stopped in Syria. There are a lot of reasons for that. But there are a lot of strategy discussions taking place right now with our allies and with others that I believe will mount a strategy necessary to deal with ISIL in Syria," Kerry told members of a Senate committee when asked about the growth of ISIL.

Responding to questions, Kerry acknowledged that there has been a slight increase of ISIL presence in Syria.
"But I can't by any means describe what is happening in Syria as a big advance. They've been stopped in Syria also," he asserted.
"Remember, Kobani was going to be the big test. And they were days away from running over Kobani. We can in with very significant strikes, but more importantly, we came in and diplomatically worked with the Turks and with the Kurds, and made it possible for Peshmerga to be able to pass through a corridor and come into Kobani and reinforce it. And by continuing the strikes and joining in that effort, ISIL ultimately had to admit, it lost," Kerry said.

"They were defeated. And they lost as many as 1,000 fighters there. Over the next months, in my judgement, the pressure can increase significantly on the Assad regime. That will affect who is willing to do what on the ground. At the moment, I'm not going to pretend to you that the forces there that's ready to do that," he said.

"But as Iraq takes place and confidence is built and they're driven back into Syria, which they will be, then the focus will much more on Syria," he added.
Kerry said the US and its international partners have helped the Iraqis to take back territory.

"Approximately 30 per cent of the territory that had been gained by ISIL has now been restored to Iraqi hands, and we are training the Iraqis and preparing for the moment where they can do more," he said.
Kerry pointed out that thousands of ISIL leaders have been taken off the battlefield.
"We're undertaking a global effort to restrict their revenues, curb the recruitment of foreign fighters and we're engaged in a round-the-clock campaign to rebut the terrorist messaging on social media and on other outlets," Kerry said.
"We are in the early stages of what is going to be a multi-year effort. But the momentum that ISIL had built up last fall, last summer has dissipated. The key supply line has been completely severed. ISIL militants can no longer manoeuvre out in the open the way they did before. Convoys can't move, and they can't talk to each other the way they used to," he said.