France has carried out secret military actions in Syria to kill (potential) terrorists. Former President François Hollande said so in French court. “We had to protect ourselves. So orders have been given to take out some.”
These were targeted individual actions. In September 2015, France also launched aerial bombardments in Syria, Hollande said. “We knew from the beginning of 2015 that IS wanted to wage war with us. They have done that and we have answered it.” According to the former president, those actions were also aimed at terrorists: “We wanted to bomb places where attacks were being prepared, where people were trained.”
“Targeted Executions”
It is the first time that the former president has spoken publicly about taking out IS supporters in Syria. In 2016 a book was published by two investigative journalists who had interviewed Hollande. In those conversations, he is said to have said that he had carried out “four targeted executions” of alleged terrorists in Syria.
Hollande has now openly confirmed this in court for the first time. He was heard there during the trial of the November 13, 2015 attacks. Hollande was president at the time.
He told the judge extensively about the night of the attacks. He was then himself in the football stadium where the first attack was committed.
Bataclan
Hollande explained that his intelligence services were targeting several IS supporters, including in Syria. But the attacks on the Bataclan, among others, could not be prevented, he thinks. “We didn’t know what the targets were or when they wanted to strike. If we had known that there was going to be an attack in a concert hall that night, we would have banned all concerts that evening.”
And, he said: “Of course it is a failure if there is an attack. But we have also managed to prevent attacks.” The trial over the attacks began in september. It takes a total of nine months.
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