French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Sunday the US led coalition fighting Daesh should begin the battle on the group's Syrian bastion Raqqa while the offensive on Mosul is underway.

"I believe it will be necessary," he told Europe 1 radio.

Le Drian, whose country is the second-biggest contributor to the coalition, added that the battle on Mosul would be long and complicated saying that Daesh was embedding itself within the local population.

Source: MENA