June 3, 2015

471 French nationals join ISIL, 110 killed, says PM Valls

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Wednesday 03 Jun 2015 - 12:25 Makkah mean time-16-8-1436

French nationals with ISIL (Google image)

Paris (IINA) – French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Tuesday that there are some 471 French nationals fighting with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and 110 people have been killed in combat for the insurgent group, KUNA reported.
Speaking in the French Senate, Valls said close to 900 people, either nationals or residents in France, had gone to Syria or Iraq to join ISIL for the so-called “Jihad”, the largest number for any European country.
He said the government had undertaken measures to block people from going to fight in Syria and Iraq, including confiscation of passports for up to two years and surveillance of networks on the Internet, among others.
“More than 860 individuals have spent time in these countries,” Valls told Senators as he sought to defend a tough intelligence draft law that has already been passed in the National Assembly, but needs Senate approval.
The Senate approval is expected, but questions have been raised about the extent of powers being proposed for police and intelligence services. Powers include the right to bug phones, houses and cars of suspected terrorists and to pry into private lives in a way never seen before in France.
The bill was put forward after the two terror attacks in Paris in January that left 17 civilians and three terrorists dead.
Last month, Valls told the Parliament that there were 3000 Europeans who joined ISIL, warning that the number could soar to 10,000 by the end of the year if strong measures were not put in place.
AB/IINA

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