Islamic State militants pose threat to civilized world: Hagel

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has posed a threat to the civilized world, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Monday, days after Washington launched airstrikes against the Islamist fighters in northern Iraq.

Hagel and Australian Defense Minister David Johnston spoke about what their respective countries are doing in Iraq during a joint news conference in Sydney, according to a statement released by the U.S. Defense Department.

The United States has launched airstrikes against ISIL, a militant group that has seized large parts of northern Iraq, and airdropped relief supplies to tens of thousands of Yazidis who have fled to Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq to seek refuge, Hagel said.

The United States will continue to support the Iraqi security forces "in every way that we can," Hagel said. "We will, again, build partnerships, as we are now, recognizing the threat not just to the United States, but to the civilized world."

Australia is also participating alongside the United States in airdropping supplies to the Yazidi religious minority trapped on the mountaintop.

"This is a humanitarian issue of great consequence for all the world," Hagel said. "And I think great powers understand they have responsibilities in this area."

Hagel said the airstrikes against ISIL have been very effective. Enditem