ISIL fighters must be wiped out, France’s defense minister said Tuesday, indicating that Paris would not pull back from military operations overseas after 17 people were killed by home-grown militants in Paris last week.

ISIL fighters must be wiped out, France's defense minister said Tuesday, indicating that Paris would not pull back from military operations overseas after 17 people were killed by home-grown militants in Paris last week.

After the United States, France has the largest number of planes and troops involved in the coalition fighting ISIL, which last year took control of large swathes of Iraq and Syria.

It also has about 3,500 troops and special forces operating in the Sahel-Sahara region hunting down Al-Qaeda-linked militants.

"It is the same enemy. Our forces are on the ground here because ... for our troops it's the same fight," Le Drian told Europe 1 radio, referring to the 10,000 soldiers being deployed across France to secure key sites following last week's attack on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo by extremist gunmen.

"The response is inside and outside France. ISIL is a terrorist army with fighters from everywhere ... it is an international army that has to be wiped out and that is why we are part of the coalition," Le Drian said.

More than 1,120 French citizens are involved in terrorist cells linked to Iraq and Syria, of which about 400 are in the region.