Riyadh, Sep 11 (IANS): A regional meeting at the foreign ministers' level to formulate a strategy to counter terrorism, particularly the threat from the Islamic State (IS) Sunni extremist group, in the Middle East began Thursday in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah.

The meeting, hosted by Saudi Arabia, is being attended by foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Egypt, Iraq, Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon as also US Secretary of State John Kerry, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The GCC comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The meeting will focus on the issue of terrorism in the region, the extremist organisations supporting terrorism, and the means to combat terrorism.

The meeting is being chaired by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal.

Arab states' foreign ministers agreed Sunday on increasing the levels of coordination to combat the jihadis, without a clear referral to the alliance Washington aimed to establish.

The final statement of the Arab meeting in Cairo emphasised the necessity of taking "urgent measures" to preserve Arab regional security and combat extremist groups.

The IS seized control of vast areas in Iraq and Syria in recent months, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes which led to a humanitarian crisis.

US warplanes have now joined the battle against the IS, along with Iraqi forces and Kurdish fighters.