A recent spate of deadly bombings perpetrated by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, has killed scores of people in and around Baghdad. ISIL often sends suicide bombers into congested, predominantly Shiite neighborhoods in the capital. The United States strongly condemns this vicious string of suicide, vehicle borne, and other attacks carried out by ISIL.
Those slain include courageous Iraqi citizens from all walks of life, including Ahmed al-Khafaji, an elected member of parliament from Basrah Province, and Major General Ahmed Saddak al-Dulaimi, the police chief of Anbar Province.
The United States is committed to working with the government of Iraq and its coalition partners to end this terrorist scourge. The U.S. will continue to target ISIL leaders, fighters, supplies and weapons, facilities, and safe havens, working in support of Iraqis, as the U.S. works to restore the capacity of the Iraqi Security Forces to effectively counter ISIL on its own.
ISIL, through these attacks, looks to tear apart the diverse fabric of Iraqi society, something it has sought to do over the past decade in its earlier incarnation, al-Qaida in Iraq. The Iraqi people have shown resilience in the face of this terror before, and with the world now united behind a global campaign to degrade and defeat ISIL, they will prevail once again.
Over 60 coalition partners have committed themselves to the goals of eliminating the threat posed by ISIL and have already contributed in various capacities to the effort to combat ISIL in Iraq, the region and beyond.
The United States will continue to stand with all Iraqi citizens, from all parts of the country, as they work to root out violent extremists, and promote the unified, federal, pluralistic, and democratic state, envisioned in the Iraqi constitution.
