Pope Francis wishes peace on the world

Pope Francis on Monday tweeted "heartfelt wishes of peace to the worlds peoples and nations."

"At the beginning of this New Year, I offer heartfelt wishes of peace to the world's peoples and nations," he wrote on his nine-language @pontifex account which has over 30 million followers.

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The tweet came as the Islamic State jihadist group on Monday claimed the deadly attack on a nightclub in Istanbul on New Year's Eve which Francis condemned his Angelus address in St Peter's Square on Sunday.

The pontiff asked God to help fight "the plague of terrorism and the bloody stain that envelops the world with a shadow of fear and bewilderment."

IS also claimed bombings in the Iraqi capital at the weekend that killed over 60 people.

In Syria, 18 civilians died on Sunday in air raids, shellings and bombings as a fragile three-day-old truce brokered by Russia and Turkey unravelled, according to the Syrian Human Observatory for Human Rights watchdog.