Leader criticizes 'slowness' of coalition's military support

Iraq's Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi criticized on Sunday the "slowness" of providing military support to his army by the US-led international coalition against Islamic State extremists.

The IS group last year took control of large swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria.

A US-led international coalition is conducting air raids against IS positions in both countries and is providing military support to Iraqi forces. "The international coalition is very slow in its support and training of the army" in Iraq, Abadi said at a meeting with journalists during a visit to Cairo.

"This support is very slow, but in the last two weeks there has been an acceleration," he said, calling for a "further acceleration" in the assistance.

Abadi said he discussed Iraqi "proposals" with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Syria.

He said the proposals "fill the void" that would appear in areas taken back from the IS, ensuring "a joint administration between the government and the opposition during a period of transition".

The objective was to prevent the emergence of "new terrorist groups" in areas freed from the IS yoke, he added.

US officials said the Iraqi government's army is being trained and armed to stage a major counteroffensive later in 2015, but in the mean time the international coalition is using air raids to keep pressure on IS supply lines.

The coalition has conducted 19 air strikes against IS forces in Syria and Iraq over the past two days, the US Defense Department said on Sunday.

Ten airstrikes were conducted against IS in Syria, destroying 15 fighting positions, a tactical unit, a shipping container and a supply cache, the statement said.

Meanwhile, the international military forces conducted nine airstrikes against IS in Iraq, destroying three large units, four buildings, four tactical units, seven vehicles and 21 boats.

Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Iraq included Australia, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France and the Netherlands. Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria included Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

AFP - Xinhua