French planes bombed ISIS in a series of ongoing Syrian air strikes. Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to increase his Islamic State bombing campaign in response to the terror attack against a commercial jet in October. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the American response to the terror attack in Paris and new threats uttered against Washington D.C. will involve a “big transition” in Syria in a few weeks.
BREAKING: RAF planes drop Paveway bomb on ISIS in northern Iraq https://t.co/QUIYrtZ2Zu pic.twitter.com/7lqKQufKvk
— Daily Star (@Daily_Star) November 17, 2015
The Secretary of State added expanded upon the role the U.S. will play in the response to the terror threat by noting that an agreement on a path to elections in Syria will be a “gigantic step,” and will be further discussed during a talk in Vienna this weekend. Kerry said he expected “rapid progress” on the matter, MSN reports.
French continue to launch airstrikes at ISIS stronghold in Syria https://t.co/pX7ZFVBvN8 pic.twitter.com/iCHk5l4acU
— Intl. Business Times (@IBTimes) November 17, 2015
“We are weeks away conceivably from the possibility of a big transition for Syria,” John Kerry added said.
French President Francois Hollande’s response to the Paris attacks has been viewed by some as a far more appropriate response to the carnage than the words uttered by President Barack Obama during the G20 Summit. President Hollande vowed to attack ISIS “mercilessly” for the “acts of war” committed by the Islamic State . Russia also offered firm words vengeance after it was revealed that an ISIS bomb attack killed 224 people last month when the jet flying over Egypt crashed.
Desde Francia con amor!!! https://t.co/E8f6SNtr9C
— KODRAN (@angelsanchis1) November 16, 2015
“My sense is that everybody understands that we have to step up our efforts to hit them [ISIS] at the core where they’re planning these things,” Kerry stated. “We’ve agreed to exchange more information, and I’m convinced that over the course of the next weeks, Daesh [another name for ISIS] will feel even greater pressure.”
Putin Promises Increased Syrian Airstrikes After Confirming Bomb Destroyed Passenger Plane https://t.co/JjIzRyQPBu pic.twitter.com/WsOMRiPGle
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) November 17, 2015
The French president will visit with President Obama at the White House next week. Hollande is also reportedly planning a meet with Vladimir Putin before the end of this week.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr , French law enforcement investigators and the military are still searching for the man believed to be the sole remaining ISIS fighter involved in the Paris attacks. Salah Abdeslam is a brother of two other men reportedly killed in the Islamic State terror attacks. Abdeslam is from a Brussels suburb that is routinely referred to as the “jihadi” capital of Europe.
French police have conducted more than 100 raids searching for the suspected terrorist. A nationwide manhunt for the 26-year-old who spent a “long time” in Syria, remains ongoing. Salah Abdeslam was questioned and then released by police after crossing the border into Belgium after the terror attacks, the Telegraph reports.
Members of the Abdeslam family who spoke to the media stated that they were surprised that Salah was involved with the Paris terror attacks. Ibrahim, according to the mother of the young men and other relatives, was “different.” The relatives also said that they have noticed that, at least in part, Ibrahim been radicalized by ISIS. They added that they did not think radicalized to a degree that would strap on a suicide belt and kill others.
Ibrahim Abdeslam , 31, is reportedly responsible for the terror attack outside the cafe Comptoir Voltaire, the Daily Mail notes. The French cafe is located close to the Bataclan concert hall, where the ISIS militants massacred nearly 100 people on Friday night. A third brother, Mohamed Abdeslam, was arrested in Molenbeek on Saturday. The city is located in western Brussels.
[Photo by Aleppo Media Center AMC, File / AP Photo]