IS battle prevents terror attacks at home: Hollande
Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, left, greets French President Francois Hollande prior to their meeting in Baghdad, Iraq on Monday.
AFP, Baghdad :
Supporting military operations against the Islamic State group is key to preventing terror attacks at home, French President Francois Hollande said Monday during a visit to Iraq.
Hollande had already visited in 2014 and remains the most prominent head of state to come to Iraq since the launch two and half years ago of a US-led coalition against the jihadists.
The French president, who is travelling with Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, will also stop in the autonomous northern region of Kurdistan during his one-day visit.
“Taking action against terrorism here in Iraq is also preventing acts of terrorism on our own soil,” he said at a base of Iraq’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service near Baghdad.
France is the second contributor to the US-led coalition that has carried out thousands of air strikes against IS in Iraq and Syria and provided military equipment, training and advice to Iraqi forces.
Iraqi forces completely collapsed when IS jihadists took over second city Mosul in June 2014 and swept across much of the country’s Sunni Arab heartland.
The jihadists then gained more territory in August 2014, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee from areas that had been controlled by the Kurdish peshmerga forces.
Since it joined the United States in the coalition in September 2014, French aircraft have conducted 5,700 sorties, around 1,000 strikes and destroyed more than 1,700 targets, according to defence ministry figures.
France has 14 Rafale fighter jets that are stationed in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates and taking part in coalition operations.
It also has 500 soldiers training and advising elite Iraqi forces and CAESAR artillery vehicles stationed south of Mosul to provide support for ongoing operations to retake the city.
Australia, Italy and Britain are also part of the 60-member coalition supporting Iraq’s efforts against IS.
French nationals are also among the largest contingents of foreign fighters in IS and security agencies now fear the disintegration of the “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria will result in an influx of returning jihadists bent on carrying out terror attacks in their home countries.
Supporting military operations against the Islamic State group is key to preventing terror attacks at home, French President Francois Hollande said Monday during a visit to Iraq.
Hollande had already visited in 2014 and remains the most prominent head of state to come to Iraq since the launch two and half years ago of a US-led coalition against the jihadists.
The French president, who is travelling with Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, will also stop in the autonomous northern region of Kurdistan during his one-day visit.
“Taking action against terrorism here in Iraq is also preventing acts of terrorism on our own soil,” he said at a base of Iraq’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service near Baghdad.
France is the second contributor to the US-led coalition that has carried out thousands of air strikes against IS in Iraq and Syria and provided military equipment, training and advice to Iraqi forces.
Iraqi forces completely collapsed when IS jihadists took over second city Mosul in June 2014 and swept across much of the country’s Sunni Arab heartland.
The jihadists then gained more territory in August 2014, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee from areas that had been controlled by the Kurdish peshmerga forces.
Since it joined the United States in the coalition in September 2014, French aircraft have conducted 5,700 sorties, around 1,000 strikes and destroyed more than 1,700 targets, according to defence ministry figures.
France has 14 Rafale fighter jets that are stationed in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates and taking part in coalition operations.
It also has 500 soldiers training and advising elite Iraqi forces and CAESAR artillery vehicles stationed south of Mosul to provide support for ongoing operations to retake the city.
Australia, Italy and Britain are also part of the 60-member coalition supporting Iraq’s efforts against IS.
French nationals are also among the largest contingents of foreign fighters in IS and security agencies now fear the disintegration of the “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria will result in an influx of returning jihadists bent on carrying out terror attacks in their home countries.
