US Expresses Fear as it Urges Coalition to Wage Online Fight against ’ISIL’

Local Editor

Washington urged on Monday for the battle against so-called "Daesh" ["ISIL"] to be extended to the Internet, as coalition partners met for talks on how to stop the extremists' online propaganda.

Opening the talks in Kuwait City, retired US general John Allen said that the talks would focus on "how to degrade and defeat "ISIL"'s messaging and how we can all confront and contest its presence in the information space and online."

This would require a "holistic, coordinated approach at the international, regional and local levels, combining military, law enforcement, intelligence, economic and diplomatic tools," he said.

Allen, who is coordinating the US-led campaign against "Daesh", was meeting with representatives of coalition countries including Bahrain, Britain, Egypt, France, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates [UAE].

Morever, Western governments have been increasingly alarmed by the numbers of Europeans and Americans making their way to Syria to fight with "Daesh".

Concern is also growing over the group's online influence among disaffected young people living in the West and its calls for them to carry out attacks on Western targets.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team