France to stay in Syria after Trump orders US troops home – minister

France will maintain its participation in the coalition fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) forces in Syria, a government minister said on Thursday. European Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau made the statement on CNews television after President Donald Trump surprised Washington’s allies by ordering US troops home. “For now of course we remain in Syria,” AFP quoted Loiseau as saying. “The fight against terrorism is not over,” the minister added. France’s Defense Minister Florence Parly said on Twitter Thursday that IS militants had been weakened but not wiped from the map in Syria and that the fight to defeat them definitively in their remaining pockets needed to carry on.