No global appetite for troops on ground in Syria, says Aussie PM

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Tuesday there was no global support for a US-led ground force to destroy the Islamic State group, which he called fundamentally weak with “more Twitter accounts than fighters”. He called for greater intelligence sharing in Southeast Asia to stop a Paris-style attack. Turnbull also ordered Australian law enforcement officials to test their readiness for a mass casualty attack in the wake of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks which killed 130 people. Australia is conducting air strikes against Islamic State as part of a U.S.-led coalition, which has led to threats of retaliatory attacks.

From an Australian perspective, we see a real risk that terrorist groups in the region might be inspired by attacks such as we have seen in Ankara, Beirut, Bamako and Paris and we are very mindful of the fact that hundreds of thousands of Australians visit Southeast Asia every year.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull

Turnbull reiterated there were no plans to change Australia’s military tactics against Islamic State, despite some politicians calling for troops to be sent to Syria. He did, however, highlight the need for countering violent extremism online, citing Australian support for a new Malaysian program to counter extremist messaging. "Just as Australia cannot fight any military conflict against ISIL unilaterally, we cannot counter violent extremism alone, particularly online,“ he said, using an acronym for Islamic State.

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