WELLINGTON, March 17 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said Friday his government is committed to supporting the fight against IS insurgents in Iraq and Syria.
McCully said he would attend the Counter-ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) Foreign Ministers meeting being hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Washington on March 22.
"New Zealand is committed to supporting Iraq as it addresses the threat posed by ISIL and works to stabilize affected communities," McCully said in a statement.
"The defeat of ISIL is more than a military campaign. The coalition will review progress across all lines of effort, including the important work being done to undermine ISIL's propaganda and cut off its finances," he said.
"As ISIL finds itself on the back foot in Iraq and Syria, we want to work with our coalition partners to ensure that ISIL does not find safe haven elsewhere."
New Zealand has contributed around 26 million NZ dollars (18.17 million U.S. dollars) since 2012 in humanitarian assistance for those affected by the violence in Syria and Iraq.
New Zealand has also been contributing troops to a joint force with Australia to train Iraqi forces in the fight against IS since May 2015.
The New Zealand government announced in June 2016 that it had extended the military contribution to the training mission until November 2018.
