DHAKA: Thirty countries have pledged to help Iraq fight Islamic State (IS) militants ‘by all means necessary’.
A joint statement by foreign ministers taking part in a major conference in Paris talks said support would include ‘appropriate military assistance’, reports the BBC.
The talks had been called to agree a strategy to combat the group, which controls large parts of Iraq and Syria.
The conference followed a whirlwind tour of the Middle East by US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Kerry, who attended the summit, has been drumming up support for a plan of action unveiled by president Barack Obama last week.
Opening the summit, French president Francois Hollande said the threat posed by IS militants needed a global response.
The CIA estimates that Islamic State, formerly known as ISIS, has between 20,000 and 31,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria.
BDST: 2010 HRS, SEP 15, 2014