(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) MARRAKECH, Morocco, May 11 (KUNA) -- The First Ministerial meeting for the Global Coalition to Defeat so-called Islamic State (IS) began on Wednesday with the participation of a Kuwaiti delegation led by Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah.
Morocco's Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said in the opening session of the meeting that the threat of terrorism was on the rise especially in the African continent, a fact requiring a unified global effort to fend off this menace.
He indicated that about 50 percent of terror-related deaths occurred in Africa in 2021 from the global total of 3,461.
Western Africa and the Sahel regions are focal points for terror groups, which resulted in the displacement of 1.4 million people due to the threat of terrorism, said Bourtia who commended holding the ministerial meeting for the coalition in Africa, an act of solidarity and cooperation.
On her part, United States Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland revealed that coalition would use all its might to combat IS in Africa, central Asia, Iraq and Syria, adding that coalition members would also provide assistance to those renouncing terrorism, estimated at tens of thousands both in Iraq and Syria.
She revealed that in 2021, some 500 terror-related attacks occurred in Africa, leading to the death of thousands, adding that the US renewed its commitment to help countries suffer from terrorism.
The meeting, called upon by Minister Bourita and US Secretary Antony Blinken, witnessed the participation of delegations from 80 countries and international organizations such as NATO, EU, the Arab League and others.
Founded in 2014, the Global Coalition to Defeat so-called IS gathers 84 regional and international entities with the purpose of ending the terror group and its insidious activities. (end)
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