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France's Special Forces Hunt French Militants Fighting for Islamic State
(Wall Street Journal) Tamer El-Ghobashy, Maria Abi-Habib, and Benoit Faucon - French special forces have for months enlisted Iraqi soldiers to hunt and kill French nationals who have joined the senior ranks of Islamic State. French special forces have provided to Iraqi troops the names and photographs of 30 men identified as high-value targets. A number of French citizens have been killed by Iraqi artillery and ground forces using location coordinates and intelligence supplied by the French. The motive for the secret operation is to ensure that French nationals with allegiance to Islamic State never return home to threaten France, said a current and a former foreign-affairs adviser to the French government. About 40 French special forces operate state-of-the-art intelligence-gathering tools, such as surveillance drones and radio interception devices, to help locate militants.