US President Barack Obama has assembled nine NATO nations who are willing to join the United States in its ambition to "degrade and ultimately defeat" the militant group, Islamic State.
Speaking at the NATO summit in Wales on Friday, he said that a "core coalition" had been formed to tackle the threat of the growing Sunni Militant group. US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel later announced that the group would include the US, Britain, Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Turkey.
Saying that the 10 nations would "take the fight" to the vicious jihadist group, Obama added that Washington and its partners agreed on the need to act "with urgency."
"I did not get any resistance or pushback to the basic notion that we have a critical role to play in rolling back this savage organization that is causing so much chaos...and poses a long-term threat to the safety and security of NATO members," Obama said.
"So there's great conviction that we have to act, as part of the international community, to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL (IS)," he added.
The notorious militant group has seized large areas in Iraq and Syria in recent months and provoked the United States releasing videos of two US journalists being beheaded in response to Pentagon's increased airstrikes to destroy their bases.
On Friday, although Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry sought to use the gathering of the leaders to enlist more countries in the fight against IS in Iraq, US has ruled out use of ground troops.
"We need to attack them in ways that prevent them from taking over territory, to bolster the Iraqi security forces and others in the region who are prepared to take them on, without committing troups of our own," Kerry said during the meeting.
International efforts at addressing the growing influence of the terrorist group were stepped up following the recent releases of gruesome video footages, in which journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff were mercilessly murdered.
In the videos, a black-clad, knife-wielding, masked man with an English accent addresses Obama directly, warning the President that more deaths would follow. At the end of the Sotloff beheading video, a Briton was marked as the next to be killed.
