In a significant escalation of military engagement, France has launched airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria as diplomatic efforts to strengthen stability in Lebanon continue as a fragile ceasefire with Israel continues to hold.
Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu has confirmed that French aircraft have bombed Islamic State positions in Syria, in its first such strike on the country’s soil since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
Posting on X, Lecornu wrote: “Our armed forces remain engaged in battling terrorism in the Levant,” during a New Year visit to French UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.
“On Sunday, French air assets carried out targeted strikes against Daesh on Syrian soil,” he added, using the Arabic name for IS.
The defence ministry also explained that France’s Rafale fighter jets and US-made Reaper drones “dropped a total of seven bombs on two military targets belonging to Daesh in central Syria”.
France has belonged to the Inherent Resolve international coalition against Islamic State since 2014 for Iraq and 2015 for Syria.
French troops involved in the operations are based in the region, including in the United Arab Emirates.
As Assad’s fall to a shock offensive by Syrian rebels led by a radical Sunni group rapidly reshapes the country, observers fear space could be left for IS to regather its strength.
It is meant to support the implementation of the ceasefire and assess violations.
(With AFP)