Czech president calls for united action against 'super-Holocaust' by Islamic State

PRAGUE (Reuters) - The international community should unite to take military action against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to defend itself against a "super-Holocaust", Czech President Milos Zeman said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a Holocaust commemoration forum held by the European Jewish Congress in Prague, he drew a parallel between the growth of extremist groups and Nazi Germany that could be easily contained in the 1930s before it grew too strong.

"If we are to avoid a super-Holocaust, a mass murder of people, we need united armed action, led on the international level, under the (aegis) of the United Nations Security Council," told an audience of parliamentary delegations from around Europe.

Zeman, who does not direct the day-to-day foreign policy of the Czech Republic, a EU and Nato member, said strikes should eliminate militant training camps, using modern warfare, including drones.

The United States and its coalition partners have launched dozens of air strikes each week against ISIS militants in Iraq since August and Syria since September. The militants have captured swathes of territory in the two countries and proclaimed an Islamic caliphate.

"I am afraid that we will need to see a number of terrorist attacks before we start to seriously consider such an international force of fast reaction," he said.

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