Kerry: Islamic State to Feel 'Greater Pressure' in Coming Weeks

 

This photo released on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015 by the French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) shows a French army Rafale jet on the tarmac of an undisclosed air base as part of France's Operation Chammal launched in September 2015 in support  

PARIS—

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday the Islamic State group "will feel even greater pressure" in the coming weeks as the United States, France and other allies increase their efforts against the militants.
He spoke in Paris after meeting with French President Francois Hollande and discussing different ways in which their governments can be more effective in battling the Islamic State.  The talks came days after a series of shootings and suicide bombings killed at least 129 people in Paris.
"My sense is that everybody understands that with Lebanon's attacks, with what's happened in Egypt, with Ankara, Turkey, with the attacks now in Paris, we have to step up our efforts to hit them at the core where they are planning these things, and also obviously to do more on borders and in terms of the movement of people," Kerry said.
He also highlighted recent gains, saying the militants now control only a quarter of Syria's northern border and that he is "confident the momentum will pick up."
President Hollande has vowed to hit the militants without mercy in Syria, where he said the Paris attacks were planned.
French warplanes continued bombing Islamic State targets in Syria on Tuesday, hitting the group's de facto capital in Raqqa.  The defense ministry said 10 of its jets took part in the latest airstrikes aimed at a command center and a recruiting site.
Meanwhile, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Tuesday that authorities carried out 128 raids overnight.  That followed even more raids the night before that ended with police detaining 23 people and placing 100 more on house arrest, as well as officials saying they had identified the suspected mastermind behind the deadly assault.

 

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (C), next to U.S. ambassador to France Jane D. Hartley, leaves after delivering a speech at the U.S. embassy in Paris illuminated with the colors of the French national flag, Nov. 16, 2015.

A Belgian national of Moroccan descent, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was named as the possible lead plotter of the attacks that killed at least 129 people. Belgian authorities had sought Abaaoud earlier this year for a foiled terror attack on police.
In a rare address to both houses of France’s parliament in Versailles on Monday, Hollande said Friday's "acts of war … were decided and planned in Syria, prepared and organized in Belgium, [and] perpetrated on our soil with French complicity."
Hollande called on the United Nations Security Council to rapidly issue a resolution against terrorism.
He also told lawmakers he had requested meetings with Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss unifying their efforts to destroy the Islamic State group. Hollande said he would call for "a union of all who can fight this terrorist army in a single coalition."​
Speed up screening
Hollande said the country must be able to speed up expulsion of foreigners who present a particularly serious risk to the public and suggested changes to the French constitution, such as allowing the ability to bar a dual national from entering French territory if that person presents a "terrorism risk."
Hollande said he wants a rapid implementation of “coordinated and systematic controls” of the European Union’s internal and external borders, as well as an agreement by year’s end on an air passenger name registry.
He also said a proposal seeking a three-month extension of France's state of emergency will be presented to parliament Wednesday.
The last time a French president made a speech in front of both houses of parliament in Versailles was in 2009, when Nicolas Sarkozy addressed the global financial crisis. Such an address is a procedure reserved for constitutional revisions and major presidential speeches.
Earlier Monday, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said nearly 170 police raids had been conducted overnight. In addition to those detained, more than 100 people were placed under house arrest.
The raids, carried out in Toulouse, Grenoble, Jeumont, Lyon and the Parisian suburb of Bobigny, resulted in the seizure of a number of weapons, including a rocket launcher, a Kalashnikov rifle and bulletproof vests.
Brussels raid
Police raids also took place in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels, Belgium. No arrests were made and authorities are searching for Salah Abdeslam, who is believed to have helped carry out the Paris attacks, along with his brother.
French police released a photo of Abdeslam on Sunday.
Media sources are reporting that French officials stopped Abdeslam hours after the attacks Friday night. They pulled him over on a roadway near the Belgian border in a car with two other people, questioned the three, and released them.
Salah Abdeslam's brother – Ibrahim Abdeslam – blew himself up at the Bataclan music hall, during an shooting attack there that killed more than 80 people. Belgium authorities had questioned a third brother, Mohamed, but his lawyer confirmed to the French news agency that he was released Monday.
While authorities believe that there were only eight actual attackers - seven of whom were killed - they think that about 20 people were involved.

'Living with' terrorist threat
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said France has "avoided several attacks," but there could be more "in the coming days, in the coming weeks."
The prime minister said he is not trying to scare people but "we're living with and we're going to live for a long time with this terrorist threat, and we need to prepare ourselves for further attacks."
France held a midday moment of silence Monday to pay homage to the victims of Friday's terrorism attacks.

On Sunday, French fighter jets launched massive airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) stronghold of Raqqa, in Syria, destroying a command post and a training camp.
The planes took off from Jordan and the United Arab Emirates and were operating in conjunction with U.S. forces.
A French military statement said 10 fighter jets were used to drop 20 bombs on the Islamic State targets. It was France’s biggest strike to date targeting IS in Syria.