French fighter jets strike Islamic State supply depot in northeastern Iraq

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) — France conducted its first airstrike Friday against IS targets in Iraq, the French president said, joining the United States as part of an emerging international military coalition against the militants.

Rafale fighter jets destroyed an Islamic State supply depot in northeastern Iraq, President Francois Hollande said in a statement. He said other French operations would follow in “coming days.”

President Obama has sought to rally a broad international alliance to counter the extremist group, which has claimed large amounts of territory in Iraq and Syria. The U.S.-led efforts have received wide-ranging pledges of support, but France is the first to join the United States in conducting airstrikes.

The presence of France in the air attacks has added political significance. France strongly opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and remained generally on the sidelines in the following years when other countries sent troops to back up American forces as Iraq descended into chaos.

As international efforts against the Islamic State take shape, the jihadist organization appears to have stepped up efforts to demonstrate its reach, launching a coordinated attack on a Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad on Thursday night, with multiple bombings continuing on Friday. /End/