It would take some more time to eradicate the ISIS says, Jean-Yves Le Drian. (File Photo)
Paris:
France is carrying out strikes "every day" against ISIS terrorists in Iraq, the government said Tuesday, as the country reeled from the carnage in Nice.
"There were French strikes last night in Tal Afar, not far from Mosul," Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France Info radio.
"We don't announce it every day but since we are in the coalition we are striking every day," he said, referring to the US-led alliance engaged in an aerial campaign against ISIS.
ISIS claimed responsibility for last week's massacre in the Riviera city of Nice, where a man driving a truck ploughed into a crowd gathered for Bastille Day fireworks, killing 84 people.
Investigators say Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, the 31-year-old Tunisian driver, had shown "recent interest" in IS propaganda but they have no evidence he had any ties to the group.
On Wednesday, Defence Ministers from countries engaged in the anti-ISIS coalition will meet in Washington.
Le Drian said he expected they would "push the offensive underway in Iraq and Syria to the limit" by concentrating their strikes on the IS strongholds of Mosul in Iraq and Raqa in Syria.
"We must keep up the pressure to definitively eradicate (ISIS)," he said, while acknowledging it would "take some more time".
"Striking in Mosul, striking in Iraq, is a way of ensuring our security in France and, more widely, in Europe," he added.
"There were French strikes last night in Tal Afar, not far from Mosul," Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France Info radio.
"We don't announce it every day but since we are in the coalition we are striking every day," he said, referring to the US-led alliance engaged in an aerial campaign against ISIS.
ISIS claimed responsibility for last week's massacre in the Riviera city of Nice, where a man driving a truck ploughed into a crowd gathered for Bastille Day fireworks, killing 84 people.
Investigators say Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, the 31-year-old Tunisian driver, had shown "recent interest" in IS propaganda but they have no evidence he had any ties to the group.
On Wednesday, Defence Ministers from countries engaged in the anti-ISIS coalition will meet in Washington.
Le Drian said he expected they would "push the offensive underway in Iraq and Syria to the limit" by concentrating their strikes on the IS strongholds of Mosul in Iraq and Raqa in Syria.
"We must keep up the pressure to definitively eradicate (ISIS)," he said, while acknowledging it would "take some more time".
"Striking in Mosul, striking in Iraq, is a way of ensuring our security in France and, more widely, in Europe," he added.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
