39. France
Dawn raids hit homes in jihadist hunt
Paris: French police launched dozens of fresh raids across the country yesterday and warplanes bombed Islamic State jihadists in Syria after President Francois Hollande vowed a merciless fight against the group that attacked Paris.
As France stepped up its investigation into the country’s worst-ever terror attacks that killed at least 129 people, security forces launched a series of down raids targeting scores of homes.
And after Mr Hollande urged global unity to crush the jihadists, US Secretary of state John Kerry flew to Paris to show solidarity with his nation’s “oldest ally”.
“We agreed to exchange more information and I am convinced that over the course of the next weeks, Daesh [the Islamic State] will feel greater pressure,” Mr Kerry said after talks with Mr Hollande.
Mr Kerry said the French president would visit Washington in a week for further talks after the massacre of scores of mostly young people in Paris on Friday night in attacks which also left hundreds maimed and wounded.
“I’m confident that over the next days, Paris, which knows how to rebound, will do so,” Mr Kerry said. Stunned Parisians flocked to shrines of candles and flowers, while photographs of the victims were pasted at attack sites or outside their places of work. Investigators believe Belgian jihadist Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who is based in Syria and knew Salah Abdeslam, may be the mastermind of the attacks. AFP