21 February 2017•Update: 22 February 2017
PARIS
French President Francois Hollande met Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government President Massoud Barzani in the capital Paris on Tuesday.
Addressing the press after a closed-door meeting at the Elysee Palace, Hollande said he and Barzani had mainly discussed the ongoing fight against Daesh in the Middle East.
"The [Kurdish] Peshmerga forces are playing a very important role in the battle for recapturing Mosul.
“The Iraqi army is fighting Daesh in western Mosul. Along with the international coalition, we can support the Iraqi army forces in this matter," Hollande said.
For his part, Barzani welcomed Hollande's remarks.
Last October, the Iraqi army -- backed by a U.S.-led air coalition and local allies on the ground -- began a wide-ranging campaign to retake Mosul, once Iraq’s second-largest city by population.
In January, the Iraqi army announced the "total liberation" of eastern Mosul from the grip of the terrorist group.
On Sunday, the Iraqi army began a wide-ranging operation aimed at purging remaining Daesh terrorists from the city’s western districts.
In 2014 Daesh overran Mosul, along with vast swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq.
*Reporting by Onur Usta; Writing by Burcu Arik
