The head of intelligence and security in Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous region says he hopes last week’s terror attacks in Paris will spur Western powers to become more engaged in fighting the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.
Masrour Barzani told the BBC that despite setbacks, IS militants have not been significantly weakened.
He expressed hope that the November 13 attacks in Paris, in which 129 people were killed, will act as a wake-up call, saying that IS fighters could be defeated within months if Western powers became fully involved.
"They might be losing some ground here and there, but to terrorize of course they are using different methods," he said. "They might try to do more of this if they are not stopped and they are not kept under pressure."
The IS group, which controls large swaths of Iraqi and Syrian territory, claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks.