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Strikes against IS in Syria, Iraq to be "accelerated": French President

Xinhua, January 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

States taking part in the U.S.-led coalition bombing against Islamic State(IS) targets in Syria and Iraq would accelerate their military campaign to eradicate Islamist insurgents in the region, French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday.

"The pace of the interventions will be accelerated and France will play its role in this," said Hollande.

He added "regular meetings" were scheduled to reinforce the coalition military offensive with the first gathering planned next month in Brussels.

Hollande also stressed the coalition's strategy was to free the IS "power centers" of Syria's Raqqa and Iraq's Mosul, and "to reinforce support to Arab and Kurdish forces fighting Daesh on the ground".

At his New Year greetings messages to diplomatic corps, Hollande said 2016 was a "year of transition" in Syria, during which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would have no role to play. Enditem