Paris: Major Anti-’ISIL’ Raid Taking Place in Iraq

Local Editor

France said Friday its fighter jets were conducting a "major" raid in Iraq as part of the US-led coalition offensive against the "ISIL" group, days after members said the strikes were having effect.

"At the moment, a major raid is taking place," Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told BFMTV, refusing to detail the targets or the number of jets involved.
He said French planes based in the United Arab Emirates and more recently in Jordan had carried out "120 to 130 missions" since the start of the coalition offensive.

These include intelligence gathering missions.

Paris has so far refused to join the United States in its air war against "ISIL" in Syria, but on Wednesday, President Francois Hollande said France was ready to step up its actions against the militants in Iraq.

The same day, a meeting in Brussels of countries in the coalition concluded that the "ISIL" group's advance was finally being stopped thanks to the strikes - a claim reiterated Friday by Le Drian.

"But this halt does not mean that the war is over," he warned.

In an interview this week with French weekly Paris Match, however, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad differed, saying the strikes were having no impact.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team