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WASHINGTON, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) is gaining momentum, but more needs to be done to deliver a "lasting defeat" to the terror group, said U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter Wednesday.
"Thanks to this global coalition, our clear and deliberate military campaign plan, our dedicated local partner forces, and the sacrifices of our militaries' members, we now have momentum in this fight and we have clear results on the ground," Carter told a gathering of the defense ministers of the anti-IS coalition at the Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.
This was the fourth time that Carter has hosted the coalition's defense ministerial meeting on fighting IS.
Carter said there are three objectives in the coalition's military campaign against IS, including destroying IS' parent tumor in Iraq and Syria, combating IS' spread of influence around the world, and helping protect the homeland from terror attacks.
The momentum against IS was gained as a result of a number of deliberate decisions and actions taken to accelerate this plan and hasten IS' defeat, Carter said.
He listed a series of victories made recently in fighting IS, such as the liberation of the Iraqi cities of Hit, Rutbah, and Fallujah, capturing the strategically important Qayyarah West airfield, surrounding the Syrian city of Manbij, and eliminating key IS leaders and its financial base.
"Thanks to the hard work and sacrifice of our local partners and our servicemembers, and additional, timely coalition contributions from those gathered here, we've seized opportunities, reinforced success, and taken the fight to the enemy," Carter said.
But the Pentagon chief warned against complacency despite the achievements made so far, saying "we must not rest" in order to deliver a "lasting defeat" to IS.
He urged all coalition members to continue and increase their support and contribution to the fight against IS.
Taking a step further, Carter said the coalition also needs to plan now for the future and reconstruction of the countries after defeating IS.
"This last point, the need to ensure that our economic and political campaigns do not lag behind our military progress is critical and a significant strategic priority," he said.
Carter said this strategy will be discussed at the joint meeting of the defense and foreign ministers to be hosted Thursday by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
