Pompeo: Islamic State persists despite territory loss

The Islamic State group remains a threat in Syria and Iraq, and in some areas has even gained power despite the elimination of its “caliphate,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says.

“There are places where ISIS is more powerful today than they were three or four years ago,” Pompeo tells CBS’s “This Morning” show.

“But the caliphate is gone in their capacity to conduct external attacks, it’s been made much more difficult,” he says.

“We’ve taken down significant risk. Not all of it, but a significant amount. We’re very pleased with the work that we’ve done.”

US President Donald Trump declared early this year that US-led forces in Syria and Iraq had achieved “100 percent victory” over the Islamic extremist group after a campaign to eliminate their redoubt in the Euphrates river valley in Syria.

— AFP