French Security Council Calls Liberation of Syria's Raqqa National Priority

The French Security Council considered the situation in Syria and the means to prepare as soon as possible the recapture of Raqqa, which remains primary goal for French national security, according to official statement.

PARIS (Sputnik) — The French Security Council called the liberation of the Syrian city of Raqqa, currently held by the Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) terrorist group, a national priority, the Elysee Palace said in a statement on Wednesday.

“It [the Defense and National Security Council] considered the situation in Syria and the means to prepare as soon as possible the recapture of Raqqa, which remains primary goal for our national security,” the statement read.

It also added that the council praised the advance of Iraqi troops, supported by the international coalition, in the country’s second largest city Mosul.

France is part of the US-led coalition of more than 60 nations, which has been conducting airstrikes against Daesh, outlawed in Russia and many other countries, in Syria and Iraq since 2014. However, the strikes in Syria are not authorized by the legitimate government of President Bashar Assad or by the UN Security Council.