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France's Special Forces Hunt French Militants Fighting for Islamic State
[WSJ] Members of Iraqi forces climb out of a house on the Old City section of Mosul this month in the continuing battle to drive out the remaining Islamic State fighters. Members of Iraqi forces climb out of a house on the Old City section of Mosul this month in the continuing battle to drive out the remaining Islamic State fighters. Photo: ahmad al-rubaye/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images French special forces have for months enlisted Iraqi soldiers to hunt and kill French nationals who have joined the senior ranks of Islamic State, according to Iraqi officers and current and former French officials. Iraqi commanders leading the fight for Mosul said French special forces have provided to Iraqi counterterrorism troops the names and photographs of as many as 30 men identified as high-value targets. An undisclosed number of French citizens have been killed by Iraqi artillery and ground forces, the commanders said, using location coordinates and other intelligence supplied by the French. The motive for the secret operation is to ensure that French nationals with allegiance to Islamic State never return home to threaten France with a terror attack, said a current and a former foreign-affairs adviser to the French government. France has been the target of several deadly attacks either inspired by Islamic State or orchestrated from the militants’ Middle East strongholds, including the November 2015 Paris strikes. A French Ministry of Defense spokeswoman declined to comment on the operation. "French forces work in close cooperation with their Iraqi and international partners," she said, to fight jihadists, "regardless of national origin," referring to the 1,200 French troops assisting Iraqi forces to retake Mosul. The French special forces maintain their distance from the killings--France has no death penalty--by directing Iraqi fighters to target French Islamic State fighters, according to the current and former French government advisers. Iraqi federal police take positions in an alley near Islamic State militants during a battle this month in Mosul. Iraqi federal police take positions in an alley near Islamic State militants during a battle this month in Mosul. Photo: ahmed jalil/European Pressphoto Agency A senior Iraqi police official showed The Wall Street Journal a list of names of 27 suspected Islamic State members sought by France, accompanied by photos of five of the men. French special forces began circulating the document at the start of the Mosul offensive last year. It is updated as men are killed, the police official said. This link may be a bit easier to access than that of the WSJ. Posted by: Besoeker 2017-05-30 |
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