(SANA/AP Photo)

The international community might be dropping bombs against ISIS and other extremist groups in Syria, but a slew of top diplomats urged the new anti-extremist coalition not to forget about what they see as a root cause of ISIS' growth there: the continued presence and dominance of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

The US also believes that Assad's removal from power is the only way to achieve a lasting peace in the region, but has lately put that goal on the back-burner in favor of the destruction of ISIS, which they see as a more immediate threat to security in the Middle East and around the world.

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French Foreign Minister Fabius, whose country on Wednesday endured the beheading of its own citizen, Herve Gourdel, by extremists, said the coalition must treat the threats of both ISIS and Assad with equal urgency.

"The barbarism of Daesh [an Arabic name for ISIS] should not lead us to forget the violence and the barbarism of Bashar al-Assad which in fact preceded that of Daesh," he said.

"ISIL and other terrorist groups have gained ground in Syria due to the regime's policies and full support. This fact shouldn't be ignored in the fight against extremism and terror," said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu.

And Qatari's Foreign Minister Hamad al-Thani, whose country supported the first airstrikes in Syria on Monday night, also warned against trading a focus on one threat for another.

"The international community should also remember what led to the appearance of these groups, which are the oppressive policies of the Syrian regime who oppressed the unarmed civilians," al-Thani said.

But the United States has maintained that it believes only a focus on destabilizing ISIS will allow for any progress in the fight against Assad.

"Until you degrade ISIL it's very hard to see how any political solution in the conflict is possible," a senior administration official told reporters yesterday.