France bombs IS command recruitment centers in Syria

(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) France continued bombing Islamic State targets in Syria Tuesday hitting the group's de facto capital in Raqqa as part of a stepped-up campaign following last week's shootings and suicide bombings in Paris that killed at least 129 people.

The French defense ministry said 10 of its jets took part in Tuesday's airstrikes aimed at a command center and a recruiting site.

President Francois Hollande has vowed to hit the militants without mercy in Syria where he said the shootings and bombings were planned.

He is meeting Tuesday with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry who landed in the French capital after dark Monday. Journalists were barred from accompanying him possibly the first such restriction for a state visit to a European capital.

"Nous vaincrons Daesh" Kerry declared in Paris to show solidarity with France after Friday's attacks. "We will defeat Daesh" he said referring to the Islamic State terrorist group "and we are on the course to do so."

"No one should doubt that the light still shines in the city of light" Kerry said. "Today we are all Parisians."

Kerry said sorrow over the loss of life will not be overcoming. "We will not change our course or cancel our plans including coming to Paris later this month for the climate conference." He added that President Barack Obama is looking forward to the trip.

In a rare address to both houses of France’s parliament in Versailles Hollande said Friday's "acts of war … were decided and planned in Syria prepared and organized in Belgium [and] perpetrated on our soil with French complicity."

Also Monday French authorities detained 23 people in police raids across the country and officials said they have identified the suspected mastermind behind the deadly assault.

A Belgian national of Moroccan descent Abdelhamid Abaaoud was named as the possible lead plotter of the attacks that killed at least 129 people. Belgian authorities had sought Abaaoud earlier this year for a foiled terror attack on police.

In his address Monday Hollande called on the United Nations Security Council to rapidly issue a resolution against terrorism.

He also told lawmakers he had requested meetings with Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss unifying their efforts to destroy the Islamic State group. Hollande said he would call for "a union of all who can fight this terrorist army in a single coalition."

Speed up screening

Hollande said the country must be able to speed up expulsion of foreigners who present a particularly serious risk to the public and suggested changes to the French constitution such as allowing the ability to bar a dual national from entering French territory if that person presents a "terrorism risk."

Hollande said he wants a rapid implementation of “coordinated and systematic controls” of the European Union’s internal and external borders as well as an agreement by year’s end on an air passenger name registry.
He also said a proposal seeking a three-month extension of France's state of emergency will be presented to parliament Wednesday.

The last time a French president made a speech in front of both houses of parliament in Versailles was in 2009 when Nicolas Sarkozy addressed the global financial crisis. Such an address is a procedure reserved for constitutional revisions and major presidential speeches.

Earlier Monday French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said nearly 170 police raids had been conducted overnight. In addition to those detained more than 100 people were placed under house arrest.

The raids carried out in Toulouse Grenoble Jeumont Lyon and the Parisian suburb of Bobigny resulted in the seizure of a number of weapons including a rocket launcher a Kalashnikov rifle and bulletproof vests.

Brussels raid

Police raids also took place in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels Belgium. No arrests were made and authorities are searching for Salah Abdeslam who is believed to have helped carry out the Paris attacks along with his brother.

French police released a photo of Abdeslam on Sunday.

Media sources are reporting that French officials stopped Abdeslam hours after the attacks Friday night. They pulled him over on a roadway near the Belgian border in a car with two other people questioned the three and released them.

Salah Abdeslam's brother – Ibrahim Abdeslam – blew himself up at the Bataclan music hall during an shooting attack there that killed more than 80 people. Belgium authorities had questioned a third brother Mohamed but his lawyer confirmed to the French news agency that he was released Monday.

While authorities believe that there were only eight actual attackers - seven of whom were killed - they think that about 20 people were involved.

'Living with' terrorist threat

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said France has "avoided several attacks" but there could be more "in the coming days in the coming weeks."

The prime minister said he is not trying to scare people but "we're living with and we're going to live for a long time with this terrorist threat and we need to prepare ourselves for further attacks."

France held a midday moment of silence Monday to pay homage to the victims of Friday's terrorism attacks.

On Sunday French fighter jets launched massive airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) stronghold of Raqqa in Syria destroying a command post and a training camp.

The planes took off from Jordan and the United Arab Emirates and were operating in conjunction with U.S. forces.

A French military statement said 10 fighter jets were used to drop 20 bombs on the Islamic State targets. It was France’s biggest strike to date targeting IS in Syria.

By Lisa Braynt