US to hold planning conference on ISIL

The US military will hold a planning conference involving foreign nations beginning Thursday with the aim of strategizing against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, or ISIL.

“This gathering of military planners from more than 30 nations is historic in many ways,” said Gen. Lloyd J. Austin, US Central Command commander in a statement Wednesday.

 “The nearly 200 participants represent the broad coalition that has come together and is key to the success of our campaign to defeat ISIL.”

The conference, which will be held at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, runs through Nov. 21, the statement said.