PARIS, France: An international conference is being held in Paris on Monday aimed at discussing the rising threat of the Islamic State militants and coordinating actions to knock out them.
The 26-nation meeting will specially focus on what the international community can do to help Iraq against the extremist group.
In his address at the opening ceremony of the meeting, the French President Francois Hollande described the ISIL group as a global threat, calling upon the international community to find a lasting solution to the crisis in Syria.
The French president said that the continuing chaos in Syria and Iraq helps the terrorists.
The Iraqi President Fuad Masum said in his address at the conference that the response to ISIL terrorism must be global. He warned that the ISIL threat would be even bigger if the international community fails to act quickly.
Earlier just hours before the conference began, France announced it was joining Britain in carrying out reconnaissance flights in support of the US air campaign against the jihadists.
The French defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that both Iraqi and Emirati authorities have agreed to the reconnaissance flights which would start operating later in the day.
