The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the international community to support the Iraqi government against the terrorist group ISIL, as the US is mulling drone strikes against the extremist militants.

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the international community to support the Iraqi government against the terrorist group ISIL, as the US is mulling drone strikes against the extremist militants.

"The secretary general urges the international community to unite in showing solidarity with Iraq as it confronts this serious security challenge," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement on Wednesday.

Ban demanded "full respect for international humanitarian law and human rights law in efforts to counter terrorism and violence in Iraq."

He noted that that "terrorism must not be allowed to succeed in undoing the path toward democracy in Iraq."

For her part, National Security Advisor Susan Rice told a Washington think-tank that her country “has been fast to provide necessary support for the people and government of Iraq."

"We are working together to roll back aggression and counter the threat" posed by ISIL to Iraq and the region, Rice said.

But she insisted the US "must do more to strengthen our partners' capacity to defeat the terrorist threat on their home turf by providing them the necessary training, equipment and support."

Meanwhile, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki stressed there were no current plans to send US troops back to Iraq, where around 4,500 Americans died in the eight-year conflict.