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IRAQ

‘Almost 50’ French jihadists killed in Syria

Around 50 French nationals have been killed in Syria fighting alongside jihadists, the Prime Minister said on Wednesday. France also announced it will deploy six Mirage fighter jets against Isis fighters in Iraq.

'Almost 50' French jihadists killed in Syria
Extremists from the Isis group, whose numbers have been bolstered by French nationals. Photo: AFP

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Wednesday that "close to 50" French citizens have been killed fighting alongside jihadists in Syria.  A government source told AFP the precise number, as of Monday, was estimated at 49.

"We know the number of French nationals, more than a thousand, who are involved in this phenomenon," Valls said after a security meeting in Beauvais, north of Paris.

"We know the number of French who have died in Syria, close to 50, so we know the dangers and, sadly, we are not surprised to learn that French citizens or residents of France are found at the heart of these cells and taking part in this barbarity," he added.

"This strengthens our determination to fight against terrorism," said Valls.

Two French citizens – Maxime Hauchard and Mickael Dos Santos, both 22 – have been identified as appearing in this weekend's execution video from the Islamic State group (Isis).

Also on Wednesday France's Defence Minister announced that Paris will step up the fight against Isis extremists in Iraq, by deploying six Mirage jets.

France will deploy the fighter jets to Jordan as it steps up attacks against the Islamic State group in Iraq, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Wednesday.

"French air forces will be reinforced with six Mirages to be stationed in Jordan," Le Drian told parliament.

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ISIS

Ex-jihadi housewife jailed in Norway for joining IS

A Norwegian court on Tuesday sentenced a woman who lived as a housewife in Syria to prison for being a member of the Islamic State group (IS), despite not actively fighting herself.

Ex-jihadi housewife jailed in Norway for joining IS
The Kurdish-run al-Hol camp which holds suspected relatives of Islamic State fighters.Photo: Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP

The Oslo court sentenced the Norwegian-Pakistani woman to three and a half years in prison for “participating in a terrorist organisation” by taking care of her household and enabling her three husbands to fight.

“By travelling to an area controlled by IS in Syria… by moving in and living with her husbands, taking care of the children and various tasks at home, the defendant enabled her three husbands to actively participate in IS fighting,” judge Ingmar Nilsen said as he read out the verdict.

Being a housewife to three successive husbands did not render her a passive bystander, the judge said.

“On the contrary, she was a supporter who enabled the jihad, looked after her three husbands at home and raised the new generation of IS recruits,” he said.

The young woman, who admitted having “radical ideas” at the time, left for Syria in early 2013 to join an Islamist fighter, Bastian Vasquez, who was fighting the regime.

Although she did not take up arms herself, she was accused of having allowed her husbands to go fight while taking care of her two children and household chores.

The trial was the first prosecution in Norway of someone who had returned after joining IS.

“This is a special case,” prosecutor Geir Evanger acknowledged during the trial.

“This is the first time that, to put it bluntly, someone has been charged for being a wife and mother.”

The prosecution had called for a four-year sentence, while the defence had called for her acquittal and immediately appealed Tuesday’s verdict.

The woman’s lawyer, Nils Christian Nordhus, argued that his client had quickly wanted to leave Syria after being subjected to domestic violence.

She had also been a victim of human trafficking because she had been held against her will, he added.

But the judge stressed that she had participated in the organisation “knowingly” and of her own will.

The woman was repatriated to Norway in early 2020 on humanitarian grounds with her two children, including a young boy described as seriously ill.

At least four other Norwegian women and their children are being held in Kurdish-controlled camps in Syria.

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