BRUSSELS — The military campaign against Islamist extremists in Syria and Iraq is inflicting heavy damage, said officials from a coalition working to uproot the militants from their self-declared caliphate.
Foreign ministers from the coalition of about 60 nations appeared so confident that they are making progress in the fight against the Islamic State that they have begun talking about the need to help Iraq rebuild once the extremists are ousted.
The issue was raised by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi at the Brussels meeting, which was held after a year-end NATO summit. No dollar figure was mentioned, however.
Secretary of State John F. Kerry said several nations in the region, both Sunni and Shi’ite, offered to help pay for Iraq’s rebuilding after it is rid of the Islamic State, an Al Qaeda offshoot that is also variously known as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh.
‘‘Might we have to contribute to it? Sure,’’ Kerry said, acknowledging some US cost. ‘‘We ought to. It’s part of our foreign policy, and it’s part of our engagement.’’
But much of the cost, he added, will be paid by oil-rich countries of the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia, he said, had offered to donate $500 million. He added that several other countries, which he declined to name, also have indicated that they will help.
‘‘We are particularly excited at the prospect of having the region engage in a significant way across sectarian lines, I might add, in order to be able to address this reconstruction notion,’’ Kerry said.
The ministers at the meeting were both optimistic and restrained as they assessed the coalition’s progress. In a joint statement issued at the close of the meeting, they said that the Islamic State’s advances are being halted and airstrikes on the militant group’s strongholds have helped Iraqi and Kurdish troops reclaim territory.
But they cautioned that the Islamic State is far from defeated, despite some battlefield victories against the group since the US-led group began a campaign of targeted airstrikes in the fall. In a short speech at the outset, Kerry reflected on both the gains and the long slog ahead.
‘‘Our commitment will be measured most likely in years, but our efforts are already having a significant impact,’’ he said. He cited a series of strategic successes, including regained ground around dams and oil refineries in Iraq and airstrikes in Syria targeting the leadership of the Islamic State.
‘‘It is much harder now than when we started for Daesh to assemble forces in strength, to travel in convoys and to launch concerted attacks,’’ he added. ‘‘No large Daesh unit can move forward aggressively without worrying about what will come down on it from the skies.’’
Although several of the nations represented at the meeting are straining under the weight of sheltering some of the 13.6 million Iraqis and Syrians displaced by conflict, the gathering was infused with optimism about progress in the battle against the Islamic State.
In one measure of that confidence, the officials started talking about the long-range need to mend societies riddled with social ills that have allowed Islamist extremism to flourish.