ISIS momentum halted or reversed in Iraq: US Secretary of State John Kerry

US Secretary of State John Kerry makes a statement during a meeting with members of an anti-Islamic State in Iraq and Syria coalition at Lancaster House in London Jan 22, 2015. -- PHOTO: AFP
US Secretary of State John Kerry makes a statement during a meeting with members of an anti-Islamic State in Iraq and Syria coalition at Lancaster House in London Jan 22, 2015. -- PHOTO: AFP

LONDON (REUTERS) - US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday that Islamic State in Iraq and Syria's (ISIS') momentum in Iraq had been halted or reversed and that US weapons for government forces would be arriving very shortly.

"In recent months we have seen definitively... momentum halted in Iraq and in some cases reversed," Kerry told a London news conference after a meeting of the US-led coalition fighting ISIS.

"Ground forces supported by nearly 2,000 air strikes now have reclaimed some 700 sq km," he said, adding that Iraqi forces would be getting lots of US-made M16 rifles "very, very shortly."

"There is an (arms) pipeline here, and it is working," he said.

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