Deash terrorist group could be defeated in 2017, Italian foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni said Thursday in his opening remarks at the Med Dialogues 2016 conference underway in the Italian capital.

''I think that 2017 could be the year of the final defeat of ISIS (Daesh) in Sirte, Mosul and Raqqa. However, post-defeat challenges will remain before us'' he said in statements carried by ANSAmed.

"The solution will not be only military. It will be a challenge involving the military, economic and cultural spheres," he said.

Source: MENA