French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Monday that air strikes in Syria must target ISIL militants but also other groups "considered as terrorists."

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Monday that air strikes in Syria must target ISIL militants but also other groups "considered as terrorists."

Fabius said a statement by President Francois Hollande on Friday that Russian air strikes must target "ISIL and only ISIL", did not exclude other groups like the Al-Nusra Front.

"Of course, it is a concise formulation, it is ISIL and groups considered as terrorists," Fabius told Europe 1 radio in an interview, referring to Hollande's statement.

Fabius warned of the risk that the Syrian conflict could turn into a wider religious war.

"When you see a conflict which at first was a civil war, becoming a regional war involving international powers, Russia, Iran, the US, the risks are serious," he said.

Moscow began its military operation in Syria last Wednesday and has launched more than 70 air strikes against terrorists since then.

Infuriated President Barack Obama has called Russia's anti-terror operation a "recipe for disaster", while British Prime Minister David Cameron urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday to "change direction" in Syria and recognize that President Assad ‘must be replaced.’