France's Hollande in Iraq to review war on IS

[BAGHDAD] French President Francois Hollande arrived in Baghdad Monday to meet the French forces helping Iraq in the fight against the Islamic State group and to hold talks with top officials.

Mr Hollande had already visited in 2014 and remains the most prominent head of state to come to Iraq since the launch two and half years ago of a US-led coalition against the jihadists.

The French president, who is travelling with Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, will also stop in the autonomous northern region of Kurdistan during his one-day visit.

France is the second contributor to the US-led coalition that has carried out thousands of air strikes against IS in Iraq and Syria and provided military equipment, training and advice to Iraqi forces.

Iraqi forces completely collapsed when IS jihadists took over second city Mosul in June 2014 and swept across much of the country's Sunni Arab heartland.

The jihadists then gained more territory in Aug 2014, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee from areas that had been controlled by the Kurdish peshmerga forces.

Since it joined the United States in the coalition in Sept 2014, French aircraft have conducted 5,700 sorties, around 1,000 strikes and destroyed more than 1,700 targets, according to defence ministry figures.

France has 14 Rafale fighter jets that are stationed in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates and taking part in coalition operations.

It also has 500 soldiers training and advising elite Iraqi forces and Caesar artillery vehicles stationed south of Mosul to provide support for ongoing operations to retake the city.

Australia, Italy and Britain are also part of the 60-member coalition supporting Iraq's efforts against IS.

AFP