Donald Trump’s top diplomat is hosting ministers from 68 countries to discuss a secret plan to confront and defeat Isis.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson welcomed the foreign ministers to Washington, the first such gathering of the US-led military coalition since the election of President Trump in November. Mr Trump vowed that the fight against Isis would become a major priority for his government, and earlier this year he asked the Pentagon and other agencies to provide plans for defeating the militant group.
Reuters said the militants have been losing ground in both Iraq and Syria, with three separate forces, backed by the United States, Turkey and Russia, advancing on the group's Syrian stronghold of Raqqa.
The meeting is the first of the international coalition since Iraqi government forces, backed by the US-led international coalition, retook several Iraqi cities from Islamic State last year and liberated eastern Mosul.
The news agency said that while the group is overwhelmingly outnumbered by Iraqi forces, it has been using suicide car bombs and snipers to defend its remaining strongholds.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who met with Mr Trump in Washington on Monday, said he had won assurances of more US support in the war against Isis.
A White House statement after the meeting said both Mr Trump and Mr Abadi agreed that “terrorism cannot be defeated by military might alone”, and the two leaders called for deepening commercial ties.
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