The head of the Peshmarga forces in Iraq says U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic State are helpful where they are being done aggressively.

General Sirwan Barzani told VOA that without potentially more U.S. or NATO intervention the Islamic State terrorist group will linger on forever in Iraq.

He says progress by the Peshmarga forces against the militant group has been slow because the fight is on flat land, which they are not used to, and because they are fighting a well-organized group whose militants are in many cases better armed.

He said the militant extremists would represent a serious challenge even for a big country with a well-equipped military.

The general said more than 85 percent of the support for the Islamic State group is coming from Sunnis. He said their contribution to the enemy force was far larger than what he described the original group of militants that came from outside Iraq
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