The Latest: EU anti-terror chief says airstrikes hurting IS


              Lebanese Druze women stand next to posters with pictures of soldiers and policemen who were kidnapped by militants from the Islamic State group and al-Qaida's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, in front of tents set up for a protest in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. Syria's al-Qaida branch was releasing on Tuesday a group of Lebanese soldiers and policemen held captive since August 2014 as part of a swap deal brokered by Qatar that included Lebanon setting free an unspecified number of prisoners wanted by the militant group. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Lebanese Druze women stand next to posters with pictures of soldiers and policemen who were kidnapped by militants from the Islamic State group and al-Qaida's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, in front of tents set up for a protest in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. Syria's al-Qaida branch was releasing on Tuesday a group of Lebanese soldiers and policemen held captive since August 2014 as part of a swap deal brokered by Qatar that included Lebanon setting free an unspecified number of prisoners wanted by the militant group. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

BRUSSELS (AP) - The European Union's counter-terrorism coordinator believes the Islamic State group is resorting to attacks abroad because it is hurting from coalition airstrikes.

Apart from the Nov. 13 massacres in Paris, the group has also launched attacks in Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt's Sinai in recent weeks and De Kerchove says that it appears to be changing strategy.

Gilles De Kerchove told EU lawmakers on Tuesday that "the pressure of the coalition airstrikes ... in Raqqa and around Raqqa maybe forced them to seek successes abroad."

He said: "Is this a sign of weakness? I believe so."

The city of Raqqa in northern Syria is the group's headquarters and a focus of an air campaign by Russia and a U.S.-led coalition including France.

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