France Launches More Airstrikes Against ISIS Capital
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U.S. officials tell NBC News that for the third time in two days, French warplanes, along with other coalition aircraft, have launched airstrikes aganist ISIS targets on Monday night in Raqqa, the "capital" of ISIS in Syria.
France identified a 27-year-old Belgian who once boasted about killing "infidels" and fought for the Islamic State group in Syria as the mastermind of the Paris attacks, and President Francois Hollande vowed Monday to forge a united coalition capable of defeating the jihadists at home and abroad.
Addressing lawmakers after France observed a minute of silence honoring the 129 people killed and 350 wounded, Hollande said the victims came from at least 19 nations, and the international community, led by the United States and Russia, must overcome their deep-seated divisions over Syria to destroy Islamic State on its home turf.
"Friday's acts of war were decided and planned in Syria. They were organized in Belgium and perpetrated on our soil with French complicity with one specific goal: to sow fear and to divide us," Hollande told Parliament in a rare joint session convened at the Palace of Versailles.