UN Security Council Urges Stronger Campaign Against IS

The UN Security Council has called for expanded and stronger support for Iraqi forces battling Islamic State (IS) militants and other extremist groups.

In a statement issued on October 17, the council said the IS must be fought with "all means," and "the intolerance, violence, and hatred it espouses must be stamped out."

A U.S.-led military coalition has been bombing IS positions in both Iraq and Syria for several weeks as Iraqi security forces and Kurdish Peshmerga forces battle the jihadist fighters on the ground.

The council urged the international community "to further strengthen and expand support for the government of Iraq, including Iraqi Security Forces, in the fight against [IS]."

The United States has been calling on Turkey -- a neighbor to both Syria and Iraq -- to take a greater role in the fight against IS.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP