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Ending the conflict in Syria and Iraq is key to solving the migrant crisis facing Europe, a senior US official has told the BBC.

Gen John Allen, special presidential envoy for the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) group, said IS had to be defeated and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "had to go".

He said it was "heart-wrenching" to see people fleeing the region.

But he added that the coalition was in a stronger place than a year ago.

He also praised Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi as "a real partner".

Europe is struggling to deal with an enormous influx of refugees and migrants, mostly from Syria but also from Iraq and other countries, fleeing violence and poverty.

"The millions who are fleeing their homes, that's not just about Daesh," said Gen Allen, using an Arabic name for IS.
"It's also about the conditions in the region, the horrendous conditions that are a direct result of Bashar al-Assad and several years of the civil war”.

Asked if he felt responsible for those fleeing to Europe, he said: "I feel that we can help them. We have worked very hard to help in the humanitarian crisis in that region."

"We've got to solve the conflict though. The conflict has got to be solved at a political level and a global level."