Corsica stands up to ISIS: Mediterranean islanders forms militia army to defeat terrorists

AN ANTI-ISIS militia group has formed on the French island of Corsica to defend it against terror attacks.


Members of the militant outfit said they would give “a determined response without any qualms”

An offshoot of the established National Liberation Front of Corsica (FLNC) has formed to protect the territory, and promising to "defeat" the terror group.

Calling itself the October 22 group, members of the militant outfit said they would give "a determined response without any qualms".

They added that the French government in Paris would have blood on its hands if an attack did strike on Corsican soil.

The Mediterranean island, which is a popular holiday destination for British tourists, has avoided an attack by Islamists despite the carnage wrought on France.

However the FLNC say the island has been targeted by ISIS sympathisers in the past.

They claim to have foiled a planned attack despite French police having no record of that.

In a statement sent to the island's newspaper Corse Matin, the group said: "If Islamic State takes actions on our soil, we will manage to defeat them only together.

"If a tragedy were to happen it [the French government] would bear substantial share of responsibility because it knows who the radicals Islamists are in Corsica."

They said it was "clearly" the policy of ISIS to install Islamist policies on the island.

In April, a Muslim prayer hall in Corsica was burnt to the ground in what police said was likely to be an arson attack.

Corsica was also rocked by anti-Arab riots late last year when demonstrators set fire to books, including copies of the Koran.

However FLNC's October 22 militia have said they do not want Corsica to become a haven for racist or xenophobic members of the public and simply want to tackle the threat they say ISIS now poses.