LATEST: Iraq President — Islamic State Fighters “Committing Atrocities, Brainwashing Iraqis”

UPDATE 1700 GMT: The international conference in Paris has issued a statement of “commitment to the unity, territorial integrity, and sovereignty of Iraq”, with the participants — 29 countries, the members of the Arab League, the European Union, and the United Nations — welcoming the new government under Prime Minister Haïdar al-Abadi and offering “full support”.

The conference said it would back Baghdad “by any means necessary, including appropriate military assistance” in the fight against the Islamic State” — doing so “in accordance with international law and without jeopardizing civilian security”.

As an international conference is convened in Paris to discuss action against the Islamic State in Iraq, US officials say that several Arab states have agreed to join airstrikes.

“I don’t want to leave you with the impression that these Arab members haven’t offered to do air strikes because several of them have,” a senior US State Department official said. The sources said the offer was not limited to Iraq, implying that the attacks could also be carried out on Islamic State positions in Syria.

The officials declined to identify which countries made the offers. So far France is the only country to publicly express willingness to join the airstrikes.

On Thursday 10 Arab countries — Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and six Gulf states including Saudi Arabia and Qatar — endorsed a “coordinated military campaign”.

Iraq President: Islamic State Fighters “Committing Atrocities, Brainwashing Iraqis”

At the outset of an international conference in Paris, Iraqi President Fuad Masum has said that “Iraq is facing one of the worst forms of terrorism” in the Islamic State.

Standing alongside French counterpart Francois Hollande, Masum said the Islamic State is “committing some of the worst atrocities in Iraq’s history” and accused its fighters — “some of them of European origin” — of “brainwashing young Iraqis”.

US Officials: Airstrikes Check Islamic State Advance But Jihadists Adapting

US officials have given a mixed assessment of five weeks of airstrikes against the Islamic State, saying their advance has been halted but they have not lost much territory.

The officials said the jihadists have adapted since the US began its aerial campaign in northern Iraq on August 8: “They know how to press an advantage and how to shift tactics to conserve their strength.”

The US sources said Islamic State units are now less likely to operate in the open, instead deploying among local populations.

“ISIS has not gained any land since the airstrikes started,” a U.S. official said. “It’s been effective.”

However, another added, “The Iraqis haven’t pushed them out of much. They’ve made partial inroads going after a couple targets in a couple places. That’s really it.”

The US has conducted more than 150 airstrikes, expanding the operations from northern Iraq to attacks in the west in support of Iraqi forces.