The United Nations Security Council on Friday pushed for a bombing campaign in Iraq against Islamic State militants and associated extremist groups to be strengthened and expanded.
“The members of the Security Council urged the international community, in accordance with international law, to further strengthen and expand support for the government of Iraq, including Iraqi Security Forces, in the fight against (Islamic State) and associated armed groups,” it said in a statement.
UNSC condemned the vicious string of suicide, vehicle-borne, and other attacks in Baghdad and surrounding provinces over the past several days.
U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday told military leaders from more than 20 countries working with the coalition that he was deeply concerned about the Islamic State’s advances at the Syrian town of Kobani and in western Iraq.
The 15-member Security Council “stressed that (Islamic State) must be defeated and that the intolerance, violence and hatred it espouses must be stamped out.”