Advertisement

Iraq: France pledges 'support' to fight jihadists

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
Iraq: France pledges 'support' to fight jihadists
President François Hollande has pledged support to fight Islamists in Iraq. Photo: AFP

France has pledged to back the forces fighting Islamist militants in the Iraq on the same day US president Barack Obama authoritized air strikes against jihadists to prevent "a genocide"

Advertisement

French President Francois Hollande on Thursday pledged his country's "support" to forces battling Islamist militants in Iraq amid growing Western concern over an advance by Islamic State fighters.

"The president confirmed that France was available to support forces engaged in this battle," Hollande's office said in a statement, after the French leader spoke about Iraq by telephone with the head of the Kurdistan
Regional Government, Massud Barzani.

Hollande did not specify what form the "support" could take.

Hollande and Barzani "expressed their willingness to cooperate to block the offensive carried out by the Islamic State in the north-east of Iraq," the statement added.

At France's request, the UN Security Council is to hold an emergency meeting on Iraq later Thursday, after Islamist militants seized the country's largest Christian town.

IS, which proclaimed a "caliphate" straddling Syria and Iraq in late June, moved into Qaraqosh and other towns overnight after the withdrawal of Kurdish peshmerga troops, residents said.

Religious leaders said IS militants have forced 100,000 Christians to flee and have occupied churches, removing crosses and destroying manuscripts.

"The persecution by this terrorist group of religious minorities, in particular Christians and Yazidis, is an extremely serious crime," the statement from Hollande's office said.

He reiterated that France was prepared to "offer asylum to those people who want to leave Iraq and who have a solid connection to our country".

Hollande said that France would push the UN Security Council to "mobilise the international community against terrorism in Iraq so that help and protection can be offered to all people in danger".

Obama authorizes air strikes

President Barack Obama said Thursday he had authorized US air strikes on Iraq and humanitarian supply drops to prevent a “genocide” by Islamist extremists against minorities.

“We can act, carefully and responsibly, to prevent a potential act of genocide,” Obama said, referring to the attacks against the besieged Yazidi minority, thousands of whom are trapped on a mountain in northern Iraq.

“I therefore authorized targeted air strikes if necessary to help forces in Iraq as they fight to break the siege and protect the civilians trapped there,” Obama said.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also