Jordan's King Abdullah: 'We are facing a Third World War' as Isis scourge sows chaos

The world is facing another global conflict and a fast response is needed to deal with the threat, Jordan's King Abdullah said on Tuesday (17 November). "We are facing a Third World War against humanity and this is what brings us all altogether," he told a news conference in Kosovo's capital Pristina.

"This is a war, as I said, repeatedly within Islam and unfortunately over 100,000 Muslims have been murdered by Daesh [Islamic State] alone over the past two years, and that doesn't also count for the atrocities like-minded groups have also done in Africa and Asia," he said after meeting Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga.

King Abdullah said the world must "act fast to tackle the response to interconnected threats" from Daesh, the Arabic acronym for Islamic State (IS) France and Russia both staged air strikes on IS targets in northern Syria on Tuesday as Paris formally requested European Union assistance in its fight against the group.

"The atrocious Paris attacks shows that scourge of terrorism can strike anywhere and any time," King Abdullah said. The Jordanian monarch was on a one-day visit to Kosovo where he was given the highest honours by Jahjaga.