France bombs ISIS in Syria

Published December 31, 2024 at 4:11 PM

Foreign. France has carried out airstrikes against targets linked to the Islamic State in Syria, Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu confirmed on Tuesday.

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The attack is the first of its kind since Syria's former President Bashar al-Assad was ousted from power earlier in December.

“On Sunday, French forces carried out targeted attacks on Daesh targets on Syrian soil,” Lecornu wrote on X, where he also posted a video showing the bombings.

According to the Defense Ministry, French Rafale fighter jets and American Reaper drones were used to drop seven bombs on two targets in central Syria.

Our armies remain engaged in the fight against terrorism in the Levant.

They contribute to the international coalition "Operation Inherent Resolve" (OIR), since 2014 in Iraq and 2015 in Syria.

On Sunday, French air forces carried out targeted strikes against… pic.twitter.com/uwzOmcJDce

— Sébastien Lecornu (@SebLecornu) December 31, 2024

Assad was deposed after a lightning offensive by opposition groups led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS), formerly al-Qaeda. He fled the country and sought asylum in Russia.

At the same time, the United States has increased its military presence in Syria. The Assad government has previously accused the Americans of stealing and smuggling large amounts of oil out of the country.