[h=1]France launches first air strikes on IS in Iraq[/h]
19 Sep, 2014
French jets have carried out their first strikes against Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq, the office of President Francois Hollande says.
A statement said planes had attacked an IS depot in north-east Iraq, and there would be more raids in the coming days.
The US has carried out more than 170 air strikes against the jihadist group in Iraq since mid-August.
IS remains in control of dozens of cities and towns in Iraq and Syria, where it has declared a caliphate.
French jets have been flying reconnaissance missions over Iraq from a base in the United Arab Emirates
Analysis: Jonathan Marcus, BBC defence correspondent
France is the first of Washington's allies to strike at IS targets. The mission underscores the perhaps surprising military activism of the socialist French president.
He has committed his country to military interventions in Mali, Central Africa and now Iraq. The French government has made it clear that its air strikes will be restricted to IS targets in Iraq and that there will be no French troops involved in fighting on the ground.
This geographical restriction of French air operations underscores the complexity of President Obama's stated aim of degrading and disrupting IS activities in Syria too.
That is a mission that US air power may have to take on alone and, despite the fact that Congress is moving to back a "train and equip" programme for the "moderate" Syrian opposition, there are still many questions about how effectively the counter-IS struggle can be extended to Syrian territory as well.
Friday's air strike comes a day after President Hollande said he had agreed to an Iraqi request for air support, but it would only target IS in Iraq and not in neighbouring Syria.
He also insisted that he would not send ground troops.
France had already been carrying out reconnaissance flights over Iraq and providing weapons to Kurdish fighters in the north.
Mr Hollande's office said Rafale planes had carried out the attack and "the objective was hit and completely destroyed".
BBC News - France launches first air strikes on IS in Iraq
19 Sep, 2014
French jets have carried out their first strikes against Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq, the office of President Francois Hollande says.
A statement said planes had attacked an IS depot in north-east Iraq, and there would be more raids in the coming days.
The US has carried out more than 170 air strikes against the jihadist group in Iraq since mid-August.
IS remains in control of dozens of cities and towns in Iraq and Syria, where it has declared a caliphate.
Analysis: Jonathan Marcus, BBC defence correspondent
France is the first of Washington's allies to strike at IS targets. The mission underscores the perhaps surprising military activism of the socialist French president.
He has committed his country to military interventions in Mali, Central Africa and now Iraq. The French government has made it clear that its air strikes will be restricted to IS targets in Iraq and that there will be no French troops involved in fighting on the ground.
This geographical restriction of French air operations underscores the complexity of President Obama's stated aim of degrading and disrupting IS activities in Syria too.
That is a mission that US air power may have to take on alone and, despite the fact that Congress is moving to back a "train and equip" programme for the "moderate" Syrian opposition, there are still many questions about how effectively the counter-IS struggle can be extended to Syrian territory as well.
Friday's air strike comes a day after President Hollande said he had agreed to an Iraqi request for air support, but it would only target IS in Iraq and not in neighbouring Syria.
He also insisted that he would not send ground troops.
France had already been carrying out reconnaissance flights over Iraq and providing weapons to Kurdish fighters in the north.
Mr Hollande's office said Rafale planes had carried out the attack and "the objective was hit and completely destroyed".
BBC News - France launches first air strikes on IS in Iraq
