U.S., allies discuss battle against Islamic State

The United States on Monday met with coalition partners over how to integrate and increase joint efforts to fight the Islamic State extremist group in Iraq and Syria.

Acting Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman convened at the State Department a closed-door meeting of over 35 ambassadors from countries joining U.S.-led operations against the militants.

"This plenary session was an opportunity for coalition partners to reaffirm our shared efforts in the coalition, discuss ways in which we can integrate our contributions to coalition efforts, and review ways to accelerate or increase our joint operations," the department said in a statement.

It said John Allen, the special U.S. presidential envoy for the coalition, and other senior U.S. officials briefed on progress made so far across the coalition's five lines of effort to combat the Islamic State -- supporting military operations, stopping the flow of foreign fighters, cutting off the group's access to financing, addressing urgent humanitarian needs and contesting the group's messaging.

The United States and its partners have been continuing their airstrikes on the Islamic State targets inside both Syria and Iraq over the past four days, the Central Command said on Monday.

In Syria, the air raids were conducted mainly near Kobani in support of the Turks' efforts to fend off the militants' ongoing offensive on the northern border town, the command said. Enditem