The top US intelligence agency has sharply raised its estimate of the number of Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria to between 20,000 and 31,500, from its estimate in June of about 10,000.

A CIA spokesman said the new assessment reflected stronger recruitment by the radical Islamist group since June "following battlefield successes and the declaration of a caliphate".

Meanwhile, French President Francois Hollande said during a visit to Baghdad yesterday that Paris is ready to step up military assistance for Iraq, as global efforts to defeat jihadist fighters intensified.

It was the highest-profile visit to Iraq since IS militants overran large parts of the country in June and sparked international concern over an expanding jihadist threat.-Reuters