World News for Students of English

25-11-2015 07:00

In the wake of the Paris attack that claimed the lives of 129 people, France and Russia have stepped up their response against so-called Islamic State.

The French military has released video of fighter jets taking off for what it says are intensified airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria. Ten fighter jets were launched from the Persian Gulf and Jordan that successfully bombarded Islamic State command centres in the group’s stronghold of Raqqa.

Russia has also stepped up airstrikes against Islamist militants in Syria after the Kremlin said it wanted retribution against those responsible for blowing up a Russian airliner over Egypt. Putin made a speech on Tuesday in which he vowed to hunt down those responsible for killing 224 people in the plane attack. He urged his military to combine forces with the French and work with them as allies.

The two countries plan to take action against Islamic State both at sea and in the air. The Kremlin said in a separate statement the Putin and his French counterpart, François Hollande, had spoken on the phone and agreed to boost coordination of their military actions in Syria. Hollande is due in Moscow at the end of the month to discuss the fight against terrorism.

Meanwhile, an online video posted on the same day, apparently shows a motorcyclist in Syria dragging along a missile at the back of his vehicle. Anti-government activists said the missile caught fire in the air and was one of the foreseen directed towards southern Aleppo.

Islamic State said it carried out the attacks in Paris in retaliation for French and Russian air raids in Iraq and Syria.

Difficult words: in the wake of (following), step something up (to increase the amount), retribution (punishment), vow (promise), urge (to tell, to order), counterpart (“colleague”), boost (to increase), be due (to plan), drag (to pull), foreseen (expected, predicted), retaliation (revenge).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com