BRUSSELS (PRESS TV) – The European Union has promised one billion euros (USD 1.14 billion) in funding to deal with the threat of ISIL terrorist group in conflict-stricken Syria and Iraq over the next two years.
"This package will strengthen our actions to help restore peace and security in a region that is so close to us and that has been devastated by terrorism and violence for too long," EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said in a statement on Friday.
"We are now better equipped to do more together – with our Member States, regional partners and the international community – in political and diplomatic terms as well as through aid and on security. We can now better tackle the root causes of instability and violence,” she added.
She pointed to the ruthless killing of the Jordanian pilot, Moaz al-Kassasbeh, at the hands of the ISIL last Tuesday and said his murder once again proved that "terrorism has no boundaries and that Muslims are the first victims of” the Takfiri group.
A video released last Tuesday showed 26-year-old Kassasbeh dressed in an orange jumpsuit and surrounded by flames of fire inside a metal cage. The pilot had been captured last December by ISIL militants when his plane went down in northern Syria during a mission against the terrorist group.
Jordanian King Abdullah II pledged to step up the fight against the ISIL and other militant groups.