PARIS (Reuters) – French jets from the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier struck Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria yesterday while Britain offered France the use of an air base in Cyprus to hit the militants group behind the Paris attacks.
French President Francois Hollande met British Prime Minister David Cameron in Paris yesterday as part of efforts to rally support for the fight against Islamic State and Hollande is also due to visit Washington and Moscow this week.
Cameron offered air-to-air refuelling services and said he was convinced Britain should carry out air strikes alongside France on the group in Syria and would be recommending that Britain’s parliament vote through such measures.
France has intensified its bombings in Syria since the November 13 attacks in Paris claimed by Islamic State that killed at least 130 people. The group is also being targeted from the air by a US-led coalition and Russia.
French jets taking off from the country’s flagship in the eastern Mediterranean destroyed targets in Ramadi and Mosul in Iraq on Monday in support of Iraqi forces on the ground, the French armed forces said in a statement.
In the evening another raid was carried out on Raqqa, Syria, where the French armed forces said its planes had destroyed several facilities including a command centre.
The arrival of the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier in the area following the Paris attacks has tripled the French air force’s firepower by boosting the number of planes targeting Islamic State to 38.
“I firmly support the action that President Hollande has taken to strike ISIL (Islamic State) in Syria and it is my firm conviction that Britain should do so too,” Cameron said at a joint news conference after his meeting with Hollande.
