French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. Their visit comes as Iraqi forces battle to seize the northern city of Tal Afar from IS following their July victory over the group in second city Mosul. French forces have carried out air and artillery strikes in support of Iraqi operations. The ministers are also set to discuss the fate of a small number of French jihadists captured by Iraqi forces, according to a French diplomatic source. Paris says up to 700 French nationals are fighting for IS in Syria and Iraq, where around 300 French jihadists have been killed since 2014.

Source: The Local August 26, 2017 07:18 UTC