DHAKA: French President Francois Hollande has called for a global coalition to eradicate the Islamic State (IS) of Iraq and Syria group following the deadly attacks in Paris.

Speaking to members of the French parliament at the Palace of Versailles on Monday evening, Hollande said he wanted to extend the state of emergency for three months and would meet US President Barack Obama and Russia’s Vladimir Putin to ‘unite our forces to achieve a result that has taken too long’.

Beginning his speech with the words ‘France is at war’, Hollande declared, ‘We will defeat terrorism’.

IS claimed responsibility via statements and videos for Friday’s attacks that killed at least 129 people and wounded hundreds more in the French capital.

Politicians from all political parties responded with a standing ovation and by singing the national anthem.

In a show of patriotic defiance, the Eiffel Tower in Paris was reopened and lit up in the colors of the French flag.

He said he had ordered air strikes on headquarters of IS in the Syrian town of Raqqa overnight and would continue to wage war ‘mercilessly’, sending an aircraft carrier to triple French air power in the region.

The strikes were carried out in coordination with the US.

The US and Russia are conducting separate campaigns in Syria, but Russia’s has focused largely on Syrian rebels not aligned with IS.

Hollande said France wanted more effective controls of the EU’s external borders to avoid a return to national border controls and the dismantling of the 28-nation EU, Reuters news agency reported.

BDST: 1212 HRS, Nov 17, 2015
RR