Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday that the U.S. would provide nearly $150 million in aid for areas in Syria and Iraq that were liberated from the Islamic State extremist group.
He spoke at a ministerial conference hosted by Saudi Arabia on combatting the group, which no longer controls any territory — but whose affiliates still carry out attacks across Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
The Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS includes more than 80 countries and continues to coordinate action against the extremist group, which at its height controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq. Blinken said the U.S. pledge is part of new funding amounting to more than $600 million.
“Poor security and humanitarian conditions. Lack of economic opportunity. These are the fuel for the kind of desperation on which ISIS feeds and recruits,” he said in brief remarks at the opening of the conference, using a common acronym for the extremist group. “So we have to stay committed to our stabilization goals.”
Blinken did not specify, but U.S. aid to Syria is expected to flow through Kurdish allies, the U.N. or international aid groups, as the U.S. and other Western countries maintain sanctions on President Bashar Assad’s government. MDT/AP
