French Minister of Armed Forces: Our mission to destroy IS has not changed

NEWS DESK

The French Defense Minister Florence Barley addressed on Monday the French pilots at the H5 Air Base in Jordan from where the French planes are launched to strike IS in Syria, "When you arrived in 2014, the mandate was clear; Destroying IS which must be achieved."

She added, "I have come here to say again: France continues to fight against the jihadist movement. I depend on you from tomorrow to continue the mission," mentioning the series of attacks that have struck France since 2015 which were adopted by IS."

Florence Barley cautiously commented on Trump's announcement to slow the withdrawal of the US troops. She said to the reporters, "Slow withdrawal does not necessarily mean a specific number of weeks, we will see," noting that this withdrawal is still under discussion.

She stated in the plane to Jordan, "We do not fully share the view of the President Trump. We consider that the battle against IS has not been over yet, and our priority is to continue to complete it."

She noted, "I am optimistic that this work can be done, and we need to use the effective time that would separate us from the actual withdrawal that is the history which we have not known anything about it yet."

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