France Russian Federation strike Islamic State Hollande Putin to meet

Air strikes by France and other nations on the Islamic State (IS) stronghold of Raqqa in Syria since Sunday have killed at least 33 militants, activists say.

More than 30 explosions were heard in the Raqqa city area overnight, said Rami Abdulrahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict using a network of sources on the ground.

Dozens of Islamic State fighters were wounded in the strikes, in which French jets took part, pounding the radical militia’s de facto capital of al-Raqqa.

France has intensified its aerial campaign on al-Raqqa following Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris, also claimed by Islamic State. Abdullah, a Syrian concierge in Beirut who reached his sister in Raqqa on Tuesday, said that in the case of the seven French airstrikes on Monday, “all these strikes are targeting abandoned empty locations”.

“The fleeing families are trying not to attract attention as they leave, avoiding traveling in convoys or placing too much luggage in their cars”, said Abdurrahman. Twelve Russian long-range bombers including supersonic Tu-22M “Backfires” flew from a base in Mozdok, Russia, near the border of Georgia and Azerbijan, and launched cruise missiles inside Syria against ISIS targets in Raqqa shortly after midnight, according to a USA official with knowledge of the mission. But he cautioned that despite these successes, the US military still faces serious obstacles in collecting information about Islamic State operations. Russian Federation also staged a “significant number” of air strikes on Raqa.

President Obama responded to the pleas by inviting French President Francois Hollande to visit Washington for talks next week, for what the White House said will be a discussion on deepening French cooperation in the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State and to “reiterate our shared determination to confront the scourge of terrorism”. All 224 people aboard the plane, mostly Russian tourists, were killed.

USA secretary of state John Kerry said a ceasefire between Syria’s government and the opposition could be weeks away.

“In my estimation, there can now be no uncertainties that it’s just unacceptable to set forwards any preconditions to be able to unite in the fight against so called Islamic State terrorists”, he added.

Anti-Islamic State forces are now marching south toward the city of Shaddadeh, an Islamic State stronghold 90 miles east of Raqqa, Kurdish activist Mustafa Bali said.

Khaled, who now lives in Turkey, is in touch with people in Raqqa.

But a shadow still hangs over the City of Light four days after IS suicide bombers and gunmen struck as Parisians watched a France-Germany football match, a concert by Californian group Eagles of Death Metal, or enjoyed a night out at restaurants and sidewalk cafes. Another said it would be a deal-breaker if the US tries to make Assad’s ouster a precondition for an agreement on concerted action in Syria.