French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has defended his country’s participation in airstrikes against militant group ISIL. <br /><br />He was speaking during a debate in the French parliament.<br /><br />“It is not our (military) intervention which exposes us to terrorism. This threat is here, it has existed for a long time, and that is why we are taking action and why we are intervening,” said Valls.<br /><br />French forces joined the US on September 19 in carrying out airstrikes against ISIL. The militant group has overrun large parts of Syria and Iraq.
