France Bombards ISIS in Syria

Fighter jets launch biggest raid to date targeting Islamic State bastion in Raqqa province of Syria.

“The raid … including 10 fighter jets, was launched simultaneously from the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. Twenty bombs were dropped,” the statement said, adding that the mission had taken placeon Sunday evening.

The operation, carried out in coordination with US forces, struck a command centre, recruitment centre for jihadists, a munitions depot, and a training camp for fighters. The sites targeted had previously been identified on reconnaissance flights, the statement said.

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  French warplanes initiated a series of strikes on Raqqa, Syria, Sunday. The strikes targeted military positions of the Islamic State (IS) terror militia in its de facto capital, in what many analysts described as a direct response to the IS-claimed terror attacks in Paris Friday night. US intelligence personnel cooperated in the strikes as US Defense Secretary Ash Carter and French Defense Minister Jean-Yves le Drian “agreed on concrete steps the US and French militaries should take to further intensify our close cooperation in prosecuting a sustained campaign against ISIL,” Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said, adding “Secretary Carter reiterated the firm commitment of the United States to support France and move together to ensure ISIL is dealt a lasting defeat.” Meanwhile, reports have emerged that Assad-regime forces have bogged down in their attacks against IS, despite Russian air support, even as Kurdish forces in neighboring Iraq have made progress against IS there. Read More