French international broadcaster TV5Monde shuts off after pro-Islamic State hackers took over on Thursday.

Eleven channels including the network's social media accounts and websites were temporarily blocked out.

The hackers brought down all the 11 channels of TV5Monde from 10pm to 1am local time and has threatened French soldiers on the broadcaster's social media accounts quoting, "stay away from the Islamic State" as they oppose France's military contest in Iraq.

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"You have the chance to save your families - take it," added the group.

They also spoofed the "Je suis Charlie" campaign -- a slogan embraced by the supporters of freedom of speech and freedom of the press after the Jan. 7 massacre in which 12 people were killed at the offices of the French weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, and changed it to "Je SuIS IS".

Prime Minister Manuel Valls criticized the terrorist action as a "vile and cowardly" offense to freedom of expression, Reuters reported.

TV5Monde Director General Yves Bigot posted a video on YouTube few hours after the hacking saying that the channel "has been the victim of an extremely powerful cyber attack", adding that they have lost control of their social media accounts and website.

Bigot reassured the public that TV5Monde is working to restore their normal programming.

France’s culture minister Fleur Pellerin called for an urgent meeting to evaluate French media groups on their vulnerability to hacking after the TV5Monde incident.

"We told (them) to be vigilant without being excessively anxious on everything that could constitute a risk factor or vulnerability in their network," Pellerin said.

On the other hand, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in a conference that it was too early to say where the attack had come from but cyber-security measures would be reinforced as a lot of aspects implied that terrorists were behind the attack, Reuters reported.

France had earlier joined the military alliance led by the United States, executing air strikes against the Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.

The Guardian reported that more than 1,500 French nationals have joined the militants’ ranks, representing almost half the number of European fighters present, according to a report released on Wednesday by the French senate.

ISIS or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is a jihadist insurgent group in Iraq and Syria influenced by the Wahhabi movement, an offshoot of Sunni Islam that aims to establish a caliphate.

Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d'information (ANSSI), a French Network and Information Security Agency, told Reuters that the attack was "sophisticated and it would take several months to rebuild the broadcaster's network".

TagsISIS, TV5Monde