Paris : France’s President Francois Hollande said Friday French jets have launched first airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq where they seized major towns and threatened the region’s security.
“This morning, at 9.40 a.m., our Rafale jets launched the first strike against a logistics depot of the terrorists,” Hollande said in a statement issued by his office, according to Xinhua.
On Thursday, the French president announced air support to quell Islamist militants at the request of Iraqi authorities, pledging to start airstrikes soon once reconnaissance flights had identified targets.
Hollande said France would not deploy ground troops in the conflict-torn country.
“We will not go beyond that… we will only intervene in Iraq… In Iraq, we were called for help by the Iraqi authorities,” Hollande said at a press meeting.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls would outline the French military operation in Iraq at parliament next week, a communique stated.