France Set To Escalate Strikes in Syria & Iraq Following Nice Attack

Along with extending the state of emergency in France, the French President Francois Hollande has that he would strengthen actions” in Syria and Iraq, hours after a truck plowed into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice. The driver who was shot dead by police was allegedly Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel a 31 year old Nice resident of Tunisian origin. Telesur reports: The assault was the third such terrorist attack in Western Europe in eight months. Police identified the driver of the van as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian living in France. Witnesses said that Bouhlel opened fire before officers returned fire and fatally shot him. He was known to the police in connection with a series of petty street crimes but was not on the watch list of French intelligence services, Reuters reporterd Friday. “We will strengthen our actions in Syria and Iraq, we will continue to strike those that attack us from their cells,” said Hollande in a national address. He said he will present the plan to extend the state of emergency to parliament next week. He had said earlier that he would end the months-long state of emergency on July 26. And later, in a second address [...]