NEWPORT (UK), September 4 (RIA Novosti) - Iraqi authorities have not yet turned to NATO for help in the fight against Islamic State (ISIS) militants, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.
"We haven't received any request for NATO engagement. I'm sure that if the Iraqi government were to forward a request for NATO assistance, that would be considered seriously by NATO allies," Rasmussen said.
The secretary general recalled that the Alliance has already helped Iraq in the past, and that from 2004 to 2011 NATO had a training mission in the country.
"I do believe that the international community as a whole has an obligation to stop ISIS from advancing further," Rasmussen said.
He welcomed the provision of assistance to Iraq by some allies and the United States' actions to stop the onset of militants of the terrorist organization Islamic State.
The Islamic State, ISIS, is a Sunni extremist group formerly known as the in Iraq and Syria, separated from al-Qaeda and started fighting the Syrian government in 2012. In 2014, they launched an offensive on Iraq and captured vast territories there, proclaiming an Islamic caliphate in June 2014. The organization has since become infamous for its brutality and commitment to radical Islam.
On August 7, US president Barack Obama authorized airstrikes against ISIS targets in Iraq – the first ones since the withdrawal of American troops in late 2011. The president also approved humanitarian aid to the Yezidis who, as Obama stated, face “genocide.”
