Hollande: We will fight this war

FRENCH president Francois Hollande yesterday vowed to fight ISIS “using all means possible”.

After rushing to the scene of France’s latest atrocity by ISIS – also known as Daesh – he said the whole country was under attack.

Mr Hollande, who is under intense pressure amid allegations of a series of security lapses, said: “We are faced with a group, Daesh, that has actually declared war, and we have to fight this war using all means possible. Of course we have to respect the rule of law, because we are a democracy.” In the past six weeks ISIS terrorists have carried out atrocities in Paris and Nice and last November murdered 130 in the capital.

Speaking after meeting emergency workers in SaintEtienne-du-Rouvray Mr Hollande said: “We are facing yet another trial, because this threat is extremely high and still remains very high after all we’ve lived through over the past few days and the past two years.” Mr Hollande, who faces a presidential election next year, also called on France to unite in the face of the terror threat.

He said: “What these terrorists want to do is to divide us, and today after the death of this priest I am thinking of all the Catholics of France and expressing my support.

“It’s not only Catholics who are involved: all the French people are involved, and that’s why we must ensure cohesion. Nobody should be able to break it.”

The French government has been accused of having insufficient security in Nice earlier this month when 84 people died.

Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy, who also hopes to run for the presidency, said: “We must be merciless. The legal quibbling, precautions and pretexts for insufficient action are not acceptable.”

National Front leader Marine Le Pen, the third presidential hopeful, said both major parties had failed on security.

“All those who have governed us for 30 years bear an immense responsibility. It’s revolting to watch them bickering,” she said.