ISIS has no respect for Muslim life, or for Islam itself: U.S.

Washington D.C., July 6 (ANI): In the wake of the deadly terror attacks in Muslim nations, mostly by the ISIS, the United States has hit out at the terrorist organisation saying that they have no respect for Muslim life or for Islam itself and adding that the government will continue its campaign against the group in Iraq and Syria. State Department spokesperson John Kirby told the media in a briefing that the U.S. strongly condemns the recent spate of deadly terrorist attacks that have been focused on civilians, including women and children, and which have taken hundreds of lives from Istanbul to Dhaka to Baghdad to the attacks in Saudi Arabia. "These acts have shown no respect for human life, whether young or old, male or female, Muslim or non-Muslim. These terrorists murdered without discretion. We cannot say whether these attacks were coordinated or whether they were conducted by independent opportunists. As you know, investigations are still ongoing, and I'm not going to get ahead of those processes. I'd refer you to those countries to talk about it," Kirby said. "But what we do know is that the goal of these attacks was to attract attention and to spread terror and to spread fear. They occurred during and at the end of Ramadan, the holiest time of the year for Muslims. Indeed, a Daesh spokesman himself called for targeting during this very holy month. So what's obviously evident is that Daesh certainly has no respect for Muslim life, life in general, or any respect for Islam itself," he added. Stating that the U.S. continues to pressure ISIS in Iraq and Syria, Kirby added that the government remain extremely concerned about their organisation's ability to inspire terrorist attacks that require few resources with little to no coordination. In this regard, Kirby asserted that the U.S. was working with partners from around the world to cut off ISIS's messaging, financing, and recruitment networks. "That's why we work with partners to expand the global ability to identify, disrupt, arrest, and prosecute suspected foreign terrorist fighters. And it's why we've identified concrete areas to increase partner capacity in disrupting, arresting, and prosecuting suspected foreign terrorist fighters and better information sharing on their networks," he said. "This is and will remain a truly global effort. At least 35 countries now have arrested foreign terrorist fighters or aspirants, and 12 countries have successfully prosecuted foreign terrorist fighters. At least 45 countries have enacted laws or amendments to create greater obstacles for foreign terrorist fighters traveling into Iraq and Syria. And as you well know, the coalition itself is some 66 nations strong now," Kirby added. Talking about the online influence on ISIS that was spreading across the global resulting in several enrolments, the spokesperson said that the US was focused on confronting the violent messages that ISIS puts out on a daily basis on social media that they try to use to inspire and to recruit people. "And we're well aware of the threat that Daesh poses to us as well as to our allies and partners. That's why we have galvanized this international coalition to shrink the territory that they hold, to kill their leaders, to cut off their financing, and to counter their messaging. And as you've heard the - as you heard the President, that campaign is firing on all cylinders and it will continue to keep up until the job is done," Kirby said. (ANI)