Responding to Trump, France says Islamic State has not been wiped from map in Syria

France’s defence minister said on Thursday that Islamic State militants had been weakened but not been wiped from the map in Syria and that the fight to defeat them

France’s defence minister said on Thursday that Islamic State militants had been weakened but not been wiped from the map in Syria and that the fight to defeat them definitively in their remaining pockets needed to carry on.

A coalition convoy of US led international coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) stops to test fire their M2 machine guns and MK19 grenade launcher in the Middle Euphrates River Valley in the Deir ez-Zor province, Syria, November 22, 2018. (REUTERS)

“Islamic State has been weakened more than ever,” Florence Parly said on Twitter, responding to US President Donald Trump’s announcement on Wednesday that the group had been defeated.

“But Islamic State has not been wiped from the map nor has its roots. It is necessary that the last pockets of this terrorist organisation be definitively defeated militarily.” (Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)