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Planes Bomb ISIS: Syria Air Strikes Continue In Response To ISIS Attacks In Paris

By Tara Dodrill
Published on: 00:37 PST, Nov 18, 2015

Planes continue to bomb ISIS in response to the ISIS terrorist attacks in Paris. French planes are carrying out a series of Syria air strikes based upon U.S. intelligence. Josh Earnest took to the morning news shows on Wednesday to defend President Obama’s ISIS policy and ongoing role in Syria. While appearing on the Fox News Channel, Earnest appeared to dodge questions about why Obama had not already attacked the Islamic States targets the French are now hitting if the intelligence was readily available.

The Syria air strikes coincide with an ongoing ISIS bombing campaign by Russia. President Vladimir Putin stated he would enhance the air strikes on the Islamic State to punish them for knocking a commercial airliner out of the sky in late October.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry detailed the non-combat response by America during a press conference as the French and Russians bomb ISIS strongholds in the Middle East. Kerry said a “big transition” in Syria will occur in the coming weeks. He also added that the U.S. will play a part in the response to the ISIS terror threats by working on an agreement to a path to elections in Syria. Kerry deemed such talks as a “gigantic step.” The issue of elections in Syria will be debated further when John Kerry travels to Vienna to meet with other leaders this weekend, MSN reports.

“We are weeks away conceivably from the possibility of a big transition for Syria,” John Kerry said. “My sense is that everybody understands that we have to step up our efforts to hit them [ISIS] at the core where they’re planning these things. We’ve agreed to exchange more information, and I’m convinced that over the course of the next weeks, Daesh [another name for ISIS] will feel even greater pressure.”

French President Francois Hollande will meet with President Barack Obama at the White House next week, and he has plans to sit down with Russian President Vladimir Putin before the end of this week.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, French police officers and the military are still searching for the man believed to be the sole remaining ISIS fighter involved in the Paris attacks. During the early morning hours, state police raided a home and killed one suspected terrorist. A woman also in the apartment blew herself up with a suicide bomb vest or belt.

Salah Abdeslam remains the focus of an international manhunt. The name of the suspected terrorist killed overnight has not yet been released to the public. Salah is the brother of two other men reportedly killed during the ISIS Paris attacks. Abdeslam is from a Brussels suburb that is routinely referred to as the “jihadi” capital of Europe.

French police conducted more than 100 raids while searching for more members of the ISIS terrorist ring that attack soft targets in Paris. Salah, 26, spent a “long time” in Syria. Salah Abdeslam was questioned and then released by police after crossing the border into Belgium after the Paris attacks, the Telegraph reports.

Ibrahim Abdeslam, 31, is reportedly responsible for the cafe Comptoir Voltaire attack in Paris on Friday night, the Daily Mail report. The French cafe is located near the Bataclan concert hall, where the ISIS fighters slaughtered more than 100 people. Mohamed Abdeslam, a third brother, was arrested in the western Brussels town of Molenbeek on Saturday.

[Image via Orlok/Shutterstock.com]

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