First strike was carried on logistics depot of the terrorist organisation Daesh (IS)
Rafale jet fighter landing in Al Dhafra base, UAE, after a strike in Iraq Friday. Joining U.S. forces France conducted its first airstrikes Friday against the militant Islamic State group, destroying a logistics depot that it controlled
Baghdad: France carried out its first air strike against the Islamic State group in Iraq Friday, boosting US-led efforts to unite the world against the growing threat posed by the jihadists. More than a decade after Paris famously refused to back the invasion of Iraq, France became the first nation to join the US aerial campaign in the war-torn country. “This morning at 9:40, our Rafale planes carried out a first strike against a logistics depot of the terrorist organisation Daesh (IS),” President Francois Hollande said.
The statement from his office said the target was in northeastern Iraq but did specify exactly where, only adding: “The objective was hit and completely destroyed.” The operation was carried out “near Mosul” by two Rafale jets equipped with laser-guided air-to-surface bombs, as well as a C-135 refuelling aircraft and a maritime patrol plan to assess the mission. Four 250-kg bombs were fired on the depot which contained “a lot of ammunition”, vehicles and fuel reserves, according to French military sources. France, as well as Britain, had already sent aircraft into Iraq’s skies for surveillance missions but Friday’s strike was its first offensive operation against the jihadists.
( Source : AFP )
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