Intensifying anti-ISIS efforts but will be a long campaign:Obama

US President Barack Obama has announced that the US-led coalition was “intensifying” its efforts against the Islamic State in Syria but cautioned that it will be a “long-term” campaign and it will take time to root out the terror group.“This will not be quick. This is a long-term campaign,” Obama told reporters at the Pentagon after his meeting with the national security team on the challenges being posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the levant (ISIl), also known as the Islamic State, in the Middle east.

“ISIl is opportunistic and it is nimble. In many places in Syria and Iraq, including urban areas, it’s dug in among innocent civilian populations. It will take time to root them out — and doing so must be the job of local forces on the ground, with training and air support from our coalition,” he said.