ISISFrench jets attack ISIS targets in Iraq

French military jets earlier this morning (Friday) have carried out the first strikes by a U.S. ally against Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq. A statement from the office of President Francois Hollande said the planes had attacked an ISIS depot in north-east Iraq, and that the coming days will see additional French attacks on the Islamist group.

The United States has carried out more than 170 air strikes against the Jihadist group in Iraq since 8 August.

The French military action comes a day after Hollande said he had accepted an Iraqi request for French air support for the Iraqi military. Hollande stressed that French military action would only target ISIS in Iraq and not in neighboring Syria.

He also said France would not send ground troops to the region.

Le Monde reports that France had already been conducting reconnaissance flights over Iraq and providing weapons to Kurdish fighters.

Hollande’s office said Rafale planes had carried out the attack and “the objective was hit and completely destroyed.”

“Other operations will follow in the coming days,” the presidential statement added.

Qassim al-Moussawi, a spokesman for the Iraqi military, told the BBC that four French air strikes had hit the town of Zumar, killing dozens of militants.

The French action follows last Monday’s emergency meeting in Paris, in which the leaders of twenty-six countries committed themselves to supporting the new Iraqi government in its fight against IS “by any means necessary, including appropriate military assistance.”

Also this morning (Friday), Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is in France for talks with his counterpart, Gen. Pierre de Villiers.

“The French were our very first ally and they are there again for us,” he told reporters in Normandy.

“It just reminds me why these relationships really matter.”

The BBC notes that the United Kingdom has also been conducting reconnaissance flights in support of the U.S. air campaign.

Yesterday, the Senate approved President Barack Obama’s plan to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels to fight ISIS.

The Pentagon has submitted to Obama for his approval a list of targets in Syria and various attack scenarios, and U.S. air strikes are now imminent.

Yesterday, perhaps with foreknowledge of the French coming air attacks, Obama praised France’s decision to join the coalition against ISIS. “Today the United States continues to build a broad international coalition to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as ISIL. As part of the air campaign France will join in strikes against ISIL in Iraq,” he said.

“As one of our oldest and closest allies, France is a strong partner in our efforts against terrorism and we are pleased that French and American service members will once again work together on behalf of our shared security and our shared values.”