Paris confirms West plans joint strike against IS in Iraq

PanARMENIAN.Net - France and the United States are preparing a coordinated strike against Islamic State on the militant group's stronghold in Mosul, Iraq, French government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said, according to Reuters.

"(French Defense Minister) Jean Yves Le Drian is in Washington. He is preparing with the Americans a coordinated attack on Mosul," le Foll said on France Info radio.

Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault spoke about a Washington meeting of the anti-Islamic State coalition in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, July 19.

Le Foll said he could not confirm a report in Le Parisien newspaper, citing an Associated Press report, which said two French special forces soldiers had been killed in Libya on Sunday.

However, he confirmed that French special forces were present in the country, Reuters says.

"Special forces are there, of course, to help and to make sure France is present everywhere in the struggle against terrorists," he said.