France plans military meeting on Islamic State, says group retreating

Members of the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State will meet in Paris next week to reinforce efforts against the group, France's defence minister said on Thursday, adding that the militants were clearly retreating in Iraq.

"We struck last night in Mosul on a Daesh telecommunications centre, a propaganda centre. What we can say today is that Daesh is retreating in Iraq," he said, referring to the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. Le Drian will host his US, British and German counterparts in Paris next week to refine strategy. "We'll see how we can intensify our efforts in Iraq and Syria," he said.