With 500 French in Syria, new anti-jihadi ad campaign starts

“French Rafale planes dropped bombs on an [Islamic State ] training facility”, Mr Le Drian told a local radio station, adding that more strikes would follow. Le Drian said Russian Federation is deploying military vessels in the eastern Mediterranean sea.

French President Francois Hollande said this week that failure to act in Syria risks stoking a “total war” in the Middle East.

Observatory head Rami Abdulrahman noted that the advances came in the wake of Russian air strikes in Syria that Moscow says are aimed at crippling IS.

“The leaders hide in schools, mosques, hospitals, which makes the job of the [international] coalition hard”. Tehran has provided his government with military and political backing for years and has kept up its support since Syria’s civil war began in 2011.

Abdulrahman said he believes only 10 percent of Russia’s strikes have hit IS targets. The Syrian army has experience in this field.

The report Friday said that Gen. Hossein Hamedani was killed in the suburbs of Aleppo in Syria while “carrying out an advisory mission”, but didn’t provide any further details.

Zoubi said that idea had never been suggested to him.

After a night of fierce clashes, IS militants had driven out rebels from the localities of Tall Qrah, Tall Soussin, Kafar Qares and the base of Madrasat al-Mushat by early morning, he said.

The IS group claimed territory mostly to the north-east of Aleppo, where it controls towns and regions including Al-Bab, one of its strongholds.

More than 500 people have left France to join extremists in Syria and Iraq – more than any other country in Western Europe.