Blinken pledges $150M aid for Syrians, Iraqis at meeting on fighting ISIL

Blinken said the US pledge is part of new funding amounting to more than $600 million

Blinken pledges $150M aid for Syrians, Iraqis at meeting on fighting ISIL

Antony Blinken at the multilateral meeting in Riyadh. Pic/AP

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that the US would provide nearly $150 million in aid for areas in Syria and Iraq that were liberated from the Islamic State (ISIL) 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 US pledge is part of new funding amounting to more than $600 million.

UN compiling proof of chemical weapon use

UN investigators are compiling evidence on the development and use of chemical weapons by Islamic State (ISIL) extremists in Iraq since 2014, and are advancing work on the militant group’s gender-based violence and crimes against children, Sunni and Shiite Muslims, Christians and Yazidis. Christian Ritscher told the UN Security Council that survivors of a March 2016 chemical attack against Taza Khurmatu, a mainly Shia Turkmen town south of Kirkuk in northeast Iraq, were still deeply impacted.

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