Baghdad, Sep 11 (IANS): Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi Thursday welcomed US President Barack Obama's announcement to wage sweeping airstrikes against the extremist Islamic State (IS) Sunni extremist group in Iraq and Syria.
"Iraq welcomes Obama's strategy with regard to supporting the country in its war," against IS and other terrorist groups, Abadi said in a statement.
He also welcomed the steps taken to rally an international coalition against the IS to end its presence in the region, Xinhua reported.
In a speech Wednesday, Obama said he would lead an expanded global coalition to address the threat of terrorism, authorizing US airstrikes inside Syria for the first time and sending 475 more US troops into Iraq, on top of the 1,125 already there.
The US military has so far conducted about 150 airstrikes on IS targets inside Iraq.