France, Russian Federation strike ISIS; Hollande and Putin to meet

“We’re not engaged in a war of civilizations, because these assassins do not represent any”.

Simultaneous shootings, one of which turned into a hostage taking, and explosions at restaurants, concert hall and the national stadium in Paris on the night of November 13 killed at least 129 people and injured hundreds of others.

Parliamentarians gave Hollande a standing ovation before spontaneously singing the “Marseillaise” national anthem in a show of political unity following the worst atrocity France has seen since World War Two.

Hollande said he wanted to create “a union of all who can fight this terrorist army in a single coalition”, calling the planned elimination of ISIS “a result that has been too long in coming”. His role in the carnage has fuelled speculation that Islamic State took advantage of a recent wave of refugees fleeing Syria to slip militants into Europe. Russian Federation joined the clash in September, but Western officials say it has mainly hit foreign-backed fighters fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, not Islamic State.

“A French Navy group headed by an aircraft carrier will soon approach your area of operations”, Putin said, according to the Kremlin statement.

One of the Paris attack suspects dubbed “Public Enemy Number One” stayed at a hotel near the French capital to prepare for the massacre, it has emerged.

Five of the seven have been identified.

In a statement, the White House said Hollande’s visit to Washington on November 24 “will underscore the friendship and solidarity between the United States and France, our oldest ally”.

“Not for the first time, Russian Federation is faced with barbaric terrorist crimes”, Putin said in remarks broadcast Tuesday from a November 16 meeting with defense and security chiefs.

France’s Interior Minister has said police carried out 128 raids across the country on Tuesday, following raids on Monday in which officers made 23 arrests and seized 31 weapons including a rocket launcher.

Hollande also vowed to boost spending on security, saying France would hire 5,000 more cops, add 2,500 posts to the Ministry of Justice and employ 1,000 additional customs agents.

The suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks has been named as Belgian Abdelhamid Abaaoud.

“The struggle against it (terrorism) is underway inside France and outside it, in particular, in Syria”.