Paris, July 18 (IANS) French forces overnight destroyed several targets of the Islamic State a few days after a follower of the terrorist cell killed 84 revellers celebrating Bastille Day in the French Riviera city of Nice.
"We must continue to move forward in the relentless battle that we lead both outside and at home against Daesh. Our forces continue to strike and did so overnight and a day before," Xinhua news agency quoted Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian as saying on Monday after a security meeting in the wake of the Nice attack on July 14 night.
Without giving details of the operation, Le Drian said despite the rising terror threats inside the country, France would continue its mission within the US-led coalition combating IS in Syria and Iraq "to definitively eradicate Daesh cancer".
In a previous interview with a French radio, the Defence Minister said the international coalition fighting IS insurgents targeted to take back by the end of the year Mosul in Iraq and Rekka in Syria, the group's main strongholds in the region.
Since the Paris attacks carried out by IS in November 2015, France has intensified its air strikes against IS in both Iraq and Syria with the participation of its aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.
