Coalition is gaining ground on ISIL: Kerry

Speaking at a global security conference in the German city of Munich, the US secretary of state said there were signs that the strategy adopted by more than 60 countries was working.

A squadron of UAE fighter jets arrive in Jordan on February 8, 2015 to assist in the kingdom's fight against ISIL. WAM

Munich // The international coalition battling ISIL in Iraq and Syria is winning back territory and depriving the extremists of key funds, US secretary of state John Kerry said.

Mr Kerry said that while defeating the group would be a long battle, there were signs the strategy adopted by more than 60 countries was working.

Since August there have been 2,000 air strikes by the coalition, Mr Kerry told a global security conference in Munich.

The UAE has played a key role in those attacks and on Saturday announced it had moved a squadron of F-16 fighter jets to Jordan to support the kingdom against the militants after they burnt alive a Jordanian pilot.

Jordan has launched 56 airstrikes against ISIL’s weapons depots, training centres and military barracks since the group released a video of Maaz Al Kassasbeh’s execution, Jordan’s air force chief said on Sunday.

Mr Kerry denounced the group’s “new level of depravity” and said the coalition’s efforts had helped retake some 700 square kilometres in territory, or “one-fifth of the area they had in their control.”

He added that the coalition had “deprived the militants of the use of 200 oil and gas facilities ... disrupted their command structure ... squeezed its finance and dispersed its personnel.”

On Iran nuclear talks, Mr Kerry ruled out extending a March 31 deadline unless the basic framework of an agreement is hammered out. Mr Kerry’s comments came after meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday in Munich.

The secretary of state was also forced to deny that the United States and Europe are divided over how to respond to the crisis in Ukraine and how to deal with Russia’s role in it. His comments were in response to reports of a deep rift over providing defensive weaponry to Kiev. Germany and France have said they oppose such a move.

*Agence France-Presse and Associated Press