US President Barack Obama holds meeting with National Security Council to counter ISIS

US President Barack Obama held a National Security Council meeting on Saturday to review progress in the campaign to destroy ISIS and help the Syrian people overcome their sufferings, the White House has said.

"Although the United States suspended bilateral channels with Russia in pursuit of a Cessation of Hostilities, the President directed his team to continue multilateral discussions with key nations with a vested interest in the region to encourage all sides to support a more durable and sustainable diminution of violence and, more broadly, a diplomatic resolution to the civil war," the White House said.

"The President's team highlighted our continued prosecution, together with our global partners, of an aggressive campaign against ISIL that includes military,intelligence, law enforcement, and diplomatic efforts," it said yesterday.

During the meeting, Obama emphasised that preventing attacks on the US and countering terrorist threats from ISIS and Al-Qaeda in Syria remained his top priorities.

He was also updated on Coalition efforts to apply simultaneous pressure against ISIS across Syria and Iraq, the White House said. More than 300,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011.