Today's news is dominated by reporting from Paris, following a series of gun and bomb attacks and a mass hostage situation last night.
It is reported that 127 people are dead and many hundreds wounded. French President Francois Hollande has declared a state of emergency in the French capital.
The Prime Minister has chaired a COBR meeting this morning, and has confirmed that the threat level in the UK will remain at ‘Severe’. While details are still emerging about the attacks, the Prime Minister warned that we must be prepared for British casualties. The Prime Minister also annouced that he would speak with President Hollande later today and offer British support. You can see the Prime Minister’s full statement here.
MOHAMMED EMWAZI
In other news, there are various reports and commentary following the US airstrike that targeted Mohammed Emwazi, also known as ‘Jihadi John’, by a US ‘drone’ strike. The reports say that Western leaders and military hailed the apparent killing as a symbolic blow in the battle against the terror group, condemning his role in the killing of foreign hostages by ISIL.
The Telegraph writes that Jihadi John secretly fathered a son who is entitled to British citizenship and could be brought to live in the UK. The article also reports that a British ‘drone’, operated from Lincolnshire, was involved in the US-led operation but did not fire the fatal missile. It also says there were unconfirmed reports that a second British jihadist had also been killed in the same attack. The Financial Times claims the strike has boosted the US military campaign.
In editorial, Richard Dannatt writes in The Telegraph that there was nothing unfair or illegal about the operation that resulted in the death of Jihadi John. Con Coughlin also writes in The Telegraph that US air strike should act as a spur for the House of Commons to lift its two-year ban on military action against ISIL targets in Syria. In The Independent, Patrick Cockburn says Jihadi John’s death, if confirmed, will not significantly weaken the group, which remains in command of a powerful Army and state machine that rules an area the size of Great Britain.
SINJAR
It is widely reported, including in Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Daily Mirror, Guardian, and Daily Mail, that that RAF drones and war bombers helped liberate the ISIL-controlled city of Sinjar in Iraq yesterday, cutting direct supply lines to ISIL’s prized conquest of Mosul. Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, is widely quoted saying the RAF carried out two strikes on ISIL positions overnight on Thursday. The Sun carries a picture of the Defence Secretary saying he confirmed the news - that an RAF Tornado fired a Brimstone missile at a supply truck in Ramadi - as he visited neighbouring Turkey.
Speaking from Turkey on Friday, the Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said:
We continue our work to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL. One of the principal reasons I am in Turkey is to plan how our two countries can work even closer together to better target terrorist leaders, as well as their sources of finance and lines of communication.
There are very encouraging reports coming out of Sinjar and we are monitoring the situation there very closely. The coalition continues to conduct intensive air operations in support of ground forces in the area who we have been training for more than a year. Overnight the Royal Air Force carried out two successful strikes on ISIL terrorists in the city of Sinjar as well a third strike in Ramadi.