Gottemoeller: NATO focuses on Iraq when supporting US' coalition against IS

  • 2017-05-14
  • BNS/TBT Staff

TALLINN - In Iraq and Syria NATO is focusing on supporting the US-led coalition which is fighting against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group in Iraq, Deputy Secretary General of NATO Rose Gottemoeller said in an interview with BNS.

Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that among other things the alliance's leaders will discuss at a summit on May 25 ways for increasing support to the coalition against IS.

When asked by BNS in which countries NATO intends to increase cooperation with the coalition, Gottemoeller said that "NATO is focusing on Iraq".

According to Gottemoeller there are many ways that NATO is helping to confront IS.

NATO has helped Iraq to deal with the damage caused by violent extremism and terrorism, for instance with unexploded ordnance, Gottemoeller said. She added that for the same reason NATO is also proceeding on to other kinds of courses, such as helping to deal better with battlefield injuries.

NATO has also supported the coalition with AWACS planes and the alliance is also looking for ways in this area to provide additional support, the deputy secretary general said.