US President Barack Obama said Monday that local forces should be the main forces to fight the extremist group the Islamic State (IS) and currently there was no plan for his administration to send more troops abroad.

Obama told reporters after being briefed by US military leadership on the status of US-led coalition campaign that to succeed in a long-term fight against the IS, "we have to develop local security forces that can sustain progress."

The rare visit to the Pentagon came as Obama, though insisting he would not send US "boots on the ground," was enhancing the U. S. military involvement in Iraq to help combat IS fighters by adding another 450 military trainers and advisors to help Iraqi troops to retake Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar province, which fell to IS in May.