U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Washington and its allies have agreed to put more resources and effort into their campaign to defeat the Islamic State group.
"We agreed that all of our friends and allies across the counter-ISIL coalition can and must do more as well, both to confront ISIL in Iraq and Syria and its metastases elsewhere," Carter said on May 4 after meeting with defense ministers from 11 nations at a conference in Stuttgart, Germany.
The amount of increased money, troops and military equipment was not specified. The group included Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Britain. Norway was also invited.
Carter has been pushing U.S. allies for years to contribute more to the fight against terrorism.
"It's important for civilization that we do this," he said, noting that the cost in lost lives from IS attacks at home and abroad would be far greater than the cost of intensifying the West's campaign against the militant group.
