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Twitter freezes 125,000 accounts for ‘terror content’

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Move comes after governments urge social networks to eliminate activity aimed at recruiting and planning violent acts.

Most of the suspended Twitter accounts were linked to ISIL [Bethany Clarke/Getty Images]

Most of the suspended Twitter accounts were linked to ISIL [Bethany Clarke/Getty Images]

by Al Jazeera

Twitter has suspended more than 125,000 accounts, most of them linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, as part of a stepped-up effort to eradicate “terrorist content” on the popular messaging platform.

The social network has said the accounts were frozen since mid-2015 “for threatening or promoting terrorist acts”.

“Like most people around the world, we are horrified by the atrocities perpetrated by extremist groups,” Twitter said on its policy blog on Friday.

“We condemn the use of Twitter to promote terrorism and the Twitter rules make it clear that this type of behaviour, or any violent threat, is not permitted on our service.”

The announcement comes after the US and other governments urged social networks to take more aggressive steps to root out activity aimed at recruiting and planning violent acts.

Twitter said it already has rules to discourage this activity but that it was driving up enforcement by boosting staff and using technology to filter violence-promoting content. But it warned there was no easy technological solution.

“As many experts and other companies have noted, there is no ‘magic algorithm’ for identifying terrorist content on the internet, so global online platforms are forced to make challenging judgement calls based on very limited information and guidance,” Twitter said.

“In spite of these challenges we will continue to aggressively enforce our rules in this area and engage with authorities and other relevant organisations to find viable solutions to eradicate terrorist content from the internet and promote powerful counter-speech narratives.”

Last March, Facebook updated its “community standards”, saying this would curb the use of the social network giant for promoting “terrorism” or hate speech.

The update said Facebook will not allow a presence from groups advocating “terrorist activity, organised criminal activity or promoting hate”.

The move came after videos of gruesome executions appeared on Facebook and other social media as part of ISIL propaganda efforts.

Jakarta attacks: ISIL claims responsibility

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Police in Indonesia say ISIL behind coordinated bomb and gun attacks in business district that left seven dead.

Police were deployed near the site where one explosion went off, as local media reported more blasts in other parts of the city [Dita Alangkara/AP]

Police were deployed near the site where one explosion went off, as local media reported more blasts in other parts of the city [Dita Alangkara/AP]

by Al Jazeera

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group has claimed responsibility for the coordinated bomb and gun attacks in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, a news agency linked to ISIL reported on Thursday.

At least seven people, including five attackers, were killed in the explosions and gun battle between police and the attackers in the central business district of the city.

Tito Karnavian, the Jakarta police chief, said ISIL was “definitely” behind the attack.

Karnavian told Reuters news agency that Indonesian ISIL fighter Bahrun Naim, who is believed to be in Syria, was “planning this for a while. He is behind this attack.”

Earlier, police told Al Jazeera that ISIL had made specific threats before Thursday’s attacks.

Six blasts occurred about 50 metres apart in the central business district, which also houses a United Nations office.

At least 20 people were injured in the security operations at the Sarinah shopping complex on Thamrin Street. Police said the attack had ended and that security forces were in control of the area.

There were conflicting reports on the number of casualties as the police battled the fighters.

Earlier, tweets from the account of Jeremy Douglas, regional representative of the UN office on Drugs and Crime for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, described a bomb and “serious” exchanges of gunfire on the street outside his office.

Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen, reporting from Jakarta, said a police post was destroyed in a grenade blast and that sporadic gunfire was heard in the downtown area of the capital.

“Six gunmen on motorbikes entered the downtown area carrying long rifles, shooting into the crowd, with some carrying explosives,” Vaessen said. “One of the gunman shot a police officer from close range.”

Some gunmen on motorbikes reportedly escaped, police sources told Al Jazeera.

“Witnesses told Al Jazeera that they found nails on the streets near the affected area, indicating that the fragments came from the explosives used in the attacks,” Vaessen said.

The attacks caused panic and prompted a security lockdown and enhanced checks in several areas in the city of 10 million.

“The police are still investigating, so we don’t know how and why the attack happened. There were at least six explosions, and so far it looks like the police was the target,” our correspondent said.

Presidential statement

Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who was on a working visit in the West Java town of Cirebon, condemned the brazen attacks.

“This act is clearly aimed at disturbing public order and spreading terror among people,” Jokowi said in statement on television.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, has been a victim of several bombing attacks in the past, claimed by Islamic groups.

Thursday’s attacks, however, were the first major incidents in Indonesia’s capital since the 2009 bombings of two hotels that killed seven people and injured more than 50.

The attacks come two days after jailed Islamic leader Abu Bakar Bashir appealed to a court to have his conviction for funding a “terrorist training camp” overturned.

The 77-year-old leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah network filed a judicial review of his 2011 conviction, when he was sentenced to 15 years in jail for setting up the camp in Aceh province. A higher court later cut the sentence to nine years.

UN adopts resolution to cut off ISIL funding

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The Security Council passed a resolution to disrupt all funding sources for ISIL in its first finance ministers meeting.

ISIL gets their money from ransom payments and other criminal activities [AP]

ISIL gets their money from ransom payments and other criminal activities [AP]

by Al Jazeera

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution to cut off all sources of funding for the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIL) and other groups it classifies as terrorist organisations.

In its first meeting at the finance ministers’ level on Thursday, the 15 member states stepped up their efforts to disrupt money supply for ISIL, including preventing access to ransom payments.

The Council called for “enhanced actions, from closing financial system loopholes to stopping the abuse of charitable causes, as well as updating the existing ISIL and al-Qaeda Sanctions List”.

The UN calls ISIL a splinter group of al-Qaeda and stresses that “any individual, group, undertaking, or entity supporting ISIL or al-Qaeda” is subject to UN sanctions, including an asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Council at the start of the debate on Thursday that ISIL has been far too quick and successful in attaining resources for their violent and deadly acts.

“As Daesh (another name for ISIL) and other terrorist groups disseminate their hateful propaganda and ratchet up murderous attacks, we must join forces to prevent them from acquiring and deploying resources to do further harm,” he stressed.

Ban called for increased international cooperation in sharing information and expertise, especially in stopping the illegal trade of cultural artefacts, and closer cooperation with the private and charitable sectors to identify suspected transactions, the UN press release released on Thursday said.

The Council also called on members to be prepared to detect any diversion of explosives, raw materials and components that can be used to manufacture improvised explosive devices or unconventional weapons.

The US said earlier this month that ISIL has made up to $1.5bn from looting banks in Iraq and Syria and through black market oil sales.

Iraq: We don’t need foreign troops to fight ISIL

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Iraqi PM’s comment comes after US defence secretary says extra troops will assist forces in fight against ISIL.

iraq-isis

by Al Jazeera

Iraq has said that any deployment of foreign troops on its soil cannot happen without approval of its government.

The Iraqi prime minister’s comments came in response to the earlier announcement by Ashton Carter, US defence secretary, that the US will deploy “specialised” troops to Iraq to help fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

“We do not need foreign ground combat forces on Iraqi land,” Haider al-Abbadi said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The Iraqi government stresses that any military operation or the deployment of any foreign forces – special or not – in any place in Iraq cannot happen without its approval and coordination and full respect of Iraqi sovereignty.”

Speaking to the House Armed Services Committee, the Pentagon chief had said a “specialised expeditionary targeting force” was being deployed to help Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces.

“In full coordination with the government of Iraq, we’re deploying a specialised expeditionary targeting force to assist Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces and to put even more pressure on ISIL,” Carter said on Tuesday.

“American special operators bring a unique suite of capabilities that make them force multipliers. They will help us garner valuable ground intelligence, further enhance our air campaign and, above all, enable local forces that can regain and then hold territory occupied by ISIL.”

Carter said the special forces would also be able to intervene in Syria, where the US has already announced it is sending about 50 special operations troops.

Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington DC, said that the number of additional troops to be sent is still unknown.

“We don’t know yet how many forces are going to be deployed,” she said. “The Iraqi government wants US troops to be helping with the effort and move ISIL off its territory.

“In Syria, the US president has approved a plan to send in special forces, but is doing so without the consent of the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and that’s something that has angered Assad since the coalition launched air strikes more than a year ago.”

Carter’s comments come as the British parliament prepares to debate whether the Royal Air Force should start bombing in Syria.

Extra planes could be sent to Cyprus if MPs vote on whether to extend British military intervention against ISIL.

If successfully passed by the MPs on Wednesday, British fighter jets will be allowed to extend their campaign against ISIL fighters in Iraq to neighbouring Syria, where the group has its headquarters in the city of Raqqa.

David Cameron, UK prime minister, called for military intervention in ISIL-held areas of Syria after the group’s attacks in Paris on November 13, which left 130 people dead.

‘Huge error’: Former US military chief admits Iraq invasion spawned ISIS

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The U.S. is poised to repeat all the same mistakes in Syria that it made in Iraq after 9/11, says former head of Defense Intelligence Agency

The Islamic State (ISIS) formed in the wake of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, said (Ret.) U.S. General Mike Flynn. (Photo: AP)

The Islamic State (ISIS) formed in the wake of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, said (Ret.) U.S. General Mike Flynn. (Photo: AP)

by Nadia Prupis, Common Dreams

The 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq fueled the creation of the Islamic State (ISIS) today and must serve as a warning against similar rash military intervention in Syria, a former U.S. intelligence chief said in an interview with German media on Sunday.

“When 9/11 occurred, all the emotions took over, and our response was, ‘Where did those bastards come from? Let’s go kill them. Let’s go get them.’ Instead of asking why they attacked us, we asked where they came from,” former U.S. special forces chief Mike Flynn, who also served as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), told Der Spiegel. “Then we strategically marched in the wrong direction.”

In recent weeks, ISIS has claimed responsibility for attacks in Lebanon andParis and the bombing of a Russian airplane over the Sinai peninsula, which together killed hundreds of people. Following the attacks, French President François Hollande vowed a “merciless” response against the group in Syria and Iraq—a statement that prompted comparisons between Hollande and former U.S. President George W. Bush in the wake of 9/11.

Echoing long-held arguments made by other experts, Flynn said Sunday that increased airstrikes and other offensives could be seen as an attempt to “invade or even own Syria,” and that the fight against militant groups like ISIS will only succeed or make progress through collaborative efforts with both Western and Arab nations. “Our message must be that we want to help and that we will leave once the problems have been solved. The Arab nations must be on our side.”

Otherwise, the U.S. is poised to repeat all its past mistakes, he said.

Der Spiegel‘s Matthias Gebauer and Holger Stark noted that in February 2004, the U.S. military “already had [ISIS leader] Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in your hands—he was imprisoned in a military camp, but got cleared later as harmless by a U.S. military commission. How could that fatal mistake happen?”

Flynn replied:

We were too dumb. We didn’t understand who we had there at that moment.

[….] First we went to Afghanistan, where al-Qaida was based. Then we went into Iraq. Instead of asking ourselves why the phenomenon of terror occurred, we were looking for locations. This is a major lesson we must learn in order not to make the same mistakes again.

Asked whether he regretted the Iraq War, Flynn responded simply, “Yes, absolutely.”

“It was a huge error,” Flynn said. “As brutal as Saddam Hussein was, it was a mistake to just eliminate him. The same is true for Moammar Gadhafi and for Libya, which is now a failed state. The historic lesson is that it was a strategic failure to go into Iraq. History will not be and should not be kind with that decision.”

Flynn’s interview with Der Spiegel echoes comments he made to Al Jazeera‘s Mehdi Hasan in August that the U.S. “totally blew it” in preventing the caliphate’s rise “in the very beginning.”

In fact, Flynn said, the U.S. deliberately backed extremist groups within the Syrian rebel movement as far back as 2012, when he was still DIA head. The Obama administration was aware at the time of a recently-declassified DIA memo that predicted the rise of a militant group in eastern Syria. Supporting the insurgency was a “willful decision,” he said.

Watch below:

Erdogan challenges Putin to prove ISIL oil claim

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Turkish president ready to quit if Russian leader can provide evidence Turkey downed warplane to protect oil supplies.

erdogan

by Al Jazeera

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, has said he would be ready to quit office if allegations by his Russian counterpart that Turkey traded oil with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group were proved.

Erdogan’s comments on Monday came after Vladimir Putin accused Turkey of shooting down the Russian Su-24 warplane last week to protect supplies of oil from ISIL to Turkey.

Turkey has already rejected the accusation.

“I will say something very strong here,” Erdogan was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu news agency on the sidelines of the UN climate talks near Paris, which Putin is also attending.

“If such a thing is proven, the nobility of our nation would require that I would not stay in office.”

Challenging Putin, who has refused to meet Erdogan after the November 24 incident in Yamadi, in Syria’s Latakia province, Erdogan said: “And I tell Mr Putin: Would you stay in that office? I say this clearly.”

In the interview, Erdogan said: “Let’s remain patient and let’s not act emotionally.”

He maintained that Turkey obtained all its oil and gas imports “through the legal path”.

“We are not dishonest so as to do this kind of exchange with terrorist groups,” he said.

“Everyone needs to know this.”

After the Su-24  was downed by Turkish F-16 fighter jets for alleged violation of Turkish airspace, Putin accused the Turks of being “accomplices of terrorists” and said oil from ISIL territory was being exported through Turkey.

ISIL claims responsibility for Bangladesh mosque attack

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Two suspects arrested after gunmen storm mosque and open fire on praying worshipers, killing one and wounding three.

A man wounded in an attack on a Shia mosque is carried for treatment in Bogra district on Thursday [AP]

A man wounded in an attack on a Shia mosque is carried for treatment in Bogra district on Thursday [AP]

by Saif Khalid, Al Jazeera

ISIL claimed responsibility after gunmen killed one Shia Muslim and wounded three others at a mosque in Bangladesh, a US monitoring website said Friday, the second assault targeting the religious minority in a month.

However, a Bangladeshi official denied that Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was operating in the South Asian nation of 160 million people.

Three masked attackers entered the Imam Khomeini mosque in Haripur village and began shooting indiscriminately before escaping, witnesses told Al Jazeera. At least 20 people were performing evening prayers at the time on Thursday.

Two suspects were arrested in connection with the attack in Bogra district, 125 kilometres northest of the capital Dhaka, according to local media reports.

The US-based intelligence group SITE, which monitors the commications of armed groups, said ISIL had taken responsibility online for the mosque assault.

But Muntasirul Islam, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said he doubted the veracity of ISIL’s statements, adding past claims by the group could not be corroborated.

“We have spoken to the media before, categorically denying ISIL’s claims in the past. Investigating agencies did not find any relations with the murder of bloggers and foreign nationals to outside terrorist organisations,” Islam told Al Jazeera.

Seventy-year-old Moazzem Hossain – the mosque’s muezzin, the man who calls Muslims for prayer – died shortly after being admitted to a local hospital.

ISIL has claimed responsibility for the murder of two foreign nationals in recent months, as well as the grisly killings of several bloggers.

On October 24, ISIL claimed responsibility for a series of blasts targeting Shia Muslims in Dhaka during a religious procession, killing one person.

But Islam told Al Jazeera local armed groups were behind past attacks, not ISIL. “They use the name of Islamic of State [of Iraq and the Levant] to attract media attention,” he said.

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said those carrying out attacks are not real Muslims.

“Killing people during prayers at mosques is not a job done by a true Muslim … nor is suicide a job of a true Muslim,” she was quoted as saying.

Amid rising threat to foreign nationals, Australia on Friday asked its citizens to voluntarily leave Bangladesh, adding that it will withdraw government-funded volunteers by December 31.

Additional reporting by Mahmud Hossain Opu

Seventy-year-old Moazzem Hossain - the mosque's muezzin - died shortly after being admitted to a local hospital [The Associated Press]

Seventy-year-old Moazzem Hossain – the mosque’s muezzin – died shortly after being admitted to a local hospital [The Associated Press]

PM Cameron: Britain should join Syria air strikes

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Prime minister urges MPs to approve ISIL air raids, saying UK should not ‘sub-contract’ security to allies.

Cameron said the UK must expand anti-ISIL air strikes to Syria to deny the group a "safe haven" [Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters]

Cameron said the UK must expand anti-ISIL air strikes to Syria to deny the group a “safe haven” [Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Britain should join air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.

Cameron attempted to persuade politicians to back action in parliament, arguing the Paris attacks have given new urgency to the fight against ISIL.

The Royal Air Force is part of a US-led coalition attacking fighters in Iraq, but not in Syria.

Cameron said Britain must join the coalition in Syria to deny ISIL a “safe haven” from which to plot mass-casualty attacks around the world.

“I believe that we should now take the decision to extend British air strikes against ISIL into Syria,” he said in a written statement to MPs. “It is wrong for the United Kingdom to sub-contract its security to other countries.”

On Monday in France, Cameron and French President Francois Hollande pledged to step up security measures after the attacks in Paris on November 13 that killed 130 people.

A parliamentary vote on the issue is expected next week.

Earlier this month, parliament’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee said British air strikes would be “incoherent” and ineffective without a plan to end Syria’s civil war.

Cameron replied on Thursday in the House of Commons saying air strikes were part of a “comprehensive overall strategy” to destroy ISIL and end the Syrian war.

Reporting outside parliament, Al Jazeera’s Charlie Angela said thousands of air strikes had been launched against ISIL in recent months and yet the group still remained a force in the region.

“There’s a big question whether Britain going in with air strikes would be all that effective,” she said. “This would be a good move diplomatically but it remains to be seen how effective militarily it would actually be.”

ISIL claims deadly attack in Egypt’s Sinai

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Suicide car bombing targets hotel, killing seven people including two judges, in latest violence to hit peninsula.

ISIL claimed responsibility for the October 31 crash of the Russian passenger jet in Sinai [Reuters]

ISIL claimed responsibility for the October 31 crash of the Russian passenger jet in Sinai [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

A suicide car bombing claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targeted a hotel in Egypt’s northern Sinai region, killing at least seven people, including two judges, according to the state MENA news agency.

The attack on the Swiss Inn hotel in the coastal city of El Arish on Tuesday was the latest violence to hit the troubled peninsula, where Egyptian troops are struggling to put down ISIL.

The attack was quickly claimed by ISIL’s affiliate based in the Sinai Peninsula.

The attack came a day after Egypt held the second round of parliamentary elections. Judges who supervised the vote in Sinai were staying in the heavily guarded hotel.

MENA’s report said four policemen and a civilian were also among the seven killed, and that at least 10 people were wounded. The agency cited an unnamed security official.

 

The attack began as Egyptian troops and policemen guarding the Swiss Inn hotel opened fire on a suspicious, explosives-laden car approaching the building, blowing it up before it reached the hotel, the military said.

In the meantime, two armed men slipped inside the hotel.

One detonated an explosives vest in the hotel’s kitchen, while the second opened fire in a hotel room.

The military said all armed men involved in the attack were killed, but gave no other details.

The Sinai branch of ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on social media accounts.

It said the attack was carried out by two fighters: the suicide car bomber and an armed man, who is alleged to have opened fire inside the hotel before blowing himself up.

The group also posted pictures of the two attackers and identified them as Abu Hamza al-Muhajer and Abu Wadhaa al-Muhajer.

Russian plane crash

Sinai was also shaken last month when a Russian passenger airliner crashed in the north of the peninsula, killing all 224 people on board.

Russia has said an explosive device placed on board the Airbus 321-200 was to blame for the October 31 crash, which took place 23 minutes after takeoff from the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh in southern Sinai.

The local ISIL branch claimed responsibility for the crash and posted a photo purportedly showing the bomb used to down the plane.

The crash led Russia to suspend all flights to and from Egypt, while Britain suspended flights to Sharm el-Sheikh.

The suspensions have dealt a severe blow to Egypt’s vital tourism industry, deepening the country’s economic woes.

Two suspects killed in Paris police raid

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Deaths in Saint-Denis suburb police operation include female suicide bomber who blew herself up, prosecutor says.

Paris police raid

by Al Jazeera

Two suspects linked to the deadly attacks in Paris died after police raided an apartment in a northern suburb of the French capital, a prosecutor said. Police declared the operation was now over.

Forensic experts were examining the apartment after female suspect killed herself by detonating a vest rigged with explosives at the start of the operation in Saint-Denis early Wednesday, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said.

A second suspect was shot during the raid, police said.

The identity of the casualties was not immediately released. However, French media said the target of the raid was Belgian national Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a key suspect in Friday’s attacks, in which at least 129 people were killed. His fate remains unclear.

Heavily armed police were seen hauling away a naked man from the building at the centre of the raid in Saint-Denis.

Earlier, Molins said in a statement that three men holed up inside the apartment were arrested, while a man and woman were detained near the location of the raid.

Three police officers and a passer-by were wounded in an initial shootout at the apartment, sources told Al Jazeera.

Hollande defiant

Speaking at an assembly of French mayors, President François Hollande called for a larger coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which has claimed the attacks in Paris.

Hollande also confirmed that a “dangerous and heavy” police operation had ended with the deaths and arrests.

“It was aimed at neutralising last night the terrorists based in Saint-Denis who are linked to the authors of the attacks and awful crimes of Friday night,” Hollande said.

“Two of the terrorists have died in the raid. There have been arrests. I can imagine the anguish which took hold of the residents of Saint-Denis in the early hours of the morning and I salute their calmness.

“I want to also express all my solidarity with the guards of the Mayor of Saint-Denis who already experienced the attack close to Stade de France on Friday.”

Residents of the area in northern Paris first reported hearing bursts of gunfire at 4:30am (3:30 GMT) as police exchanged fire with the suspects.

After a short lull in the operation, at least seven explosions were heard at 6:30 GMT, with more blasts reported later in the morning as a standoff ensued.

French soldiers secured the area as shots were exchanged in Saint-Denis in an operation to catch suspects [Jacky Naegelen/Reuters]

About 50 soldiers, heavily armed special police units, and ambulances gathered at the scene as a helicopter hovered overhead.

“Saint-Denis is a relatively poor area, housing many immigrants. It is near the area of the national stadium Stade de France, where suicide bombers claimed several lives during Friday’s attacks,” Al Jazeera’s Jacky Rowland reported from the scene.

Police also detained a man who said the suspects were staying in his flat.

“I found out that it’s at my house, and that the people are holed up at my flat. I didn’t know they were terrorists,” Jawad Ben Dow told Reuters news agency.

“Someone asked me to put two people up for three days and I did them a favour, it’s normal. I don’t know where they came from I don’t know anything. If I’d known do you think I’d have done it?” he said.

Police ordered onlookers to clear the vicinity as ambulances and fire engines lined street.

Friday night’s attacks in the French capital raised security concerns around the world.

Two Air France flights from the United States diverted for emergency landings on Tuesday because of bomb threats. All passengers were reported safe and no explosives were found on the flights.

Hollande on Wednesday held a meeting to discuss proposals to extend by three months the state of emergency declared after attacks, the worst in France since World War II.

It will then be put to vote by lawmakers on Thursday and Friday.

In a sign of the nervousness gripping Europe after Friday’s carnage, a football match between Germany and the Netherlands was cancelled on Tuesday and the crowd evacuated after police acted on a “serious” bomb threat.

As police stepped up the hunt for the fugitives, French and Russian jets pounded ISIL targets in the group’s self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa in Syria for a third consecutive day.

France and Russia have vowed retaliation for the Paris attacks and last month’s bombing of a Russian airliner, also claimed by ISIL, which have galvanised international resolve to destroy the group and end Syria’s more than four-year civil war.

“It’s necessary to establish direct contact with the French and work with them as allies,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said as France prepared to send an aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean.

Hollande will meet Putin in Moscow on November 26, two days after seeing US President Barack Obama in Washington.

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