Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview released Sunday that he was seeking partners to set up a "coordinated framework" to fight the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

"We have proposed to cooperate with the countries in the region. We are trying to establish some kind of coordinated framework," Putin said in the interview with CBS television.

Russia and other nations could get sucked into a proxy war in Syria if there was no political solution to the crisis, British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said Sunday.

Speaking on the opening day of the main opposition Labor Party's annual conference in the seaside resort of Brighton, the newly-elected veteran socialist called for urgent action.

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said in an interview that the Mideast region needs to cooperate to defeat a worsening terrorist threat that has led to a "ferocious war" in Egypt and created the danger of some countries "sliding into failure."

In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press Saturday night, al-Sisi also said that Syria should not be divided after its civil war, that the Egyptian military needs to be "augmented" to defeat terrorists fighting in the Sinai and Western Desert, and that efforts should be renewed to solve the Palestinian issue and expand Egypt's nearly 40-year-peace with Israel to include more Arab countries.

Iraq, Russia, Iran and Syria have agreed to set up an intelligence committee in Baghdad, a spokesman said Sunday, a further sign of Moscow's growing role in the region's conflict.

Iraq welcomed the creation of the new cell as a chance to help harmonize often competing efforts in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.

His eyes crinkle as he smiles softly at the camera, a trim white moustache contrasting with his tanned, weathered skin, the top button of his striped shirt casually undone.

"Mohammad Abo Khaled (64) From: Syria. He was on his way to Greek island last contact: 20/8/2015," reads a post next to the photo published on a Facebook page for missing refugees.

The Syrian army fired a missile into the last rebel-held neighborhood of the central city of Homs killing 17 people, most of them civilians, a monitoring group said on Sunday.

Four children and four women were among the dead in Saturday's strike, the Syrian Observatory for Human Right said.

France carried out its first air strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria on Sunday, as Russia said it was seeking a "coordinated framework" to fight the jihadists.

President Francois Hollande said six French warplanes were involved in the operation to strike an IS training camp near the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, and that more air strikes could follow in the coming weeks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to Saudi Arabia's King Salman about finding a solution to the Syria crisis on Saturday, just two days before he is due to address the U.N. on the issue, the Kremlin said.

In a telephone conversation at Russia's behest, the two men "exchanged views on regional security matters, first and foremost, in the context of finding ways to settle the conflict in Syria", a statement posted to the Kremlin's website said.

When customers ask which of the backpacks displayed in Damascus's Souk al-Khija market is the sturdiest, shopkeeper Walid knows they are planning to take to the sea and try to reach Germany.

Lifting a bright yellow one from his storefront display, he patiently explains to a young couple that it is waterproof, comfortable for long walks, and can be removed easily in an emergency.

U.S. intelligence fears nearly 30,000 foreign fighters have traveled to Iraq and Syria since 2011, many of them to join the Islamic State group, The New York Times reported Saturday.

The number, which reportedly includes many westerners including perhaps 250 Americans, represents a doubling of last year's U.S. assessment and will dismay U.S. war planners.