French president vows to destroy IS
Says airstrikes against IS will be intensified
PHOTO: REUTERS
VERSAILLES/PARIS:
Days after coordinated attacks in Paris, French President Francois Hollande on Monday said that his nation wants to ‘destroy’ the Islamic State (IS) group as he outlined new anti-terror measures and announced stepping up operations in Syria.
“France is at war. But we’re not engaged in a war of civilisations, because these assassins do not represent any. We are in a war against jihadist terrorism which is threatening the whole world,” Hollande told both houses of the French parliament on Monday, days after coordinated gun and bomb attacks in Paris had left 132 people dead and 350 injured.
The IS had claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they were in retaliation to French airstrikes in Iraq and Syria over the past year. Parliamentarians at the Versailles Palace gave Hollande a standing ovation before singing the national anthem in a signal of political unity following the worst atrocity in France since World War Two.
“The need to destroy Da’ish (IS) ... concerns the entire international community,” he told lawmakers.
The French president said he would seek support from the likes of US and Russia to “combine our forces to achieve a result that is already too late in coming.” His speech came after France stood still for a minute’s silence at midday to honour the victims.
Even though the IS had claimed the attacks were in retaliation to French airstrikes, Hollande said they would “intensify its operations in Syria.”
Hollande said the attacks had been “decided and planned in Syria, prepared and organised in Belgium and perpetrated on our soil with French complicity.” The only response was to step up the bombings in Syria.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 17th, 2015.
Days after coordinated attacks in Paris, French President Francois Hollande on Monday said that his nation wants to ‘destroy’ the Islamic State (IS) group as he outlined new anti-terror measures and announced stepping up operations in Syria.
“France is at war. But we’re not engaged in a war of civilisations, because these assassins do not represent any. We are in a war against jihadist terrorism which is threatening the whole world,” Hollande told both houses of the French parliament on Monday, days after coordinated gun and bomb attacks in Paris had left 132 people dead and 350 injured.
The IS had claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they were in retaliation to French airstrikes in Iraq and Syria over the past year. Parliamentarians at the Versailles Palace gave Hollande a standing ovation before singing the national anthem in a signal of political unity following the worst atrocity in France since World War Two.
“The need to destroy Da’ish (IS) ... concerns the entire international community,” he told lawmakers.
The French president said he would seek support from the likes of US and Russia to “combine our forces to achieve a result that is already too late in coming.” His speech came after France stood still for a minute’s silence at midday to honour the victims.
Even though the IS had claimed the attacks were in retaliation to French airstrikes, Hollande said they would “intensify its operations in Syria.”
Hollande said the attacks had been “decided and planned in Syria, prepared and organised in Belgium and perpetrated on our soil with French complicity.” The only response was to step up the bombings in Syria.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 17th, 2015.