Obama vows to ‘hunt down IS leaders’ and urges Putin to join coalition

President Barack Obama vowed Sunday that the United States and its international partners “will not relent” in the fight against the Islamic State, insisting the world would not accept the extremists’ attacks on civilians in Paris and elsewhere as the “new normal”. He told a press conference after a meeting of Asian leaders in Malaysia: “Destroying (Islamic State) is not only a realistic goal, were going to get it done." In the wake of the Paris terror attacks, Obama will host French President Francois Hollande at the White House on Tuesday.

We will destroy them. We will take back land they are currently in, take out their financing, hunt down leadership, dismantle their networks, supply lines and we will destroy them.

President Barack Obama

Wrapping up a nine-day trip to Turkey and Asia, Obama also pressed Russian President Vladimir Putin to align himself with the U.S.-led coalition, noting that the Islamic State has been accused of bringing down a Russian passenger jet last month, killing 224 people. "He needs to go after the people who killed Russia’s citizens,” Obama said of Putin. The president spoke in Malaysia shortly before departing for Washington.

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