On Sunday, French President Francois Hollande said that six of his country’s jet fighters had targeted and destroyed an Islamic State training camp in eastern Syria, the Associated Press reports.
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France, like the United Kingdom, has previously confined its air strikes against the Islamic State group to Iraqi airspace.
The president’s office earlier argued the airstrikes were to protect national security, as France has been attacked and threatened by militants who have claimed to have ties to IS.
But earlier this month, France began reconnaissance flights over Syria to gather information on Islamic State positions.
France had until now only struck Islamic State targets in neighboring Iraq.
Hollande has been under political pressure to take action against IS after a series of jihadist attacks in France, and fears over hundreds of citizens who have gone to wage jihad who could return home battle-hardened and vengeful.
France has been on high alert since Islamic extremists gunned down 17 people, including cartoonists at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, in a three-day killing spree in Paris in January.
“We are acting in self-defense”, Valls said, according to Reuters.
A U.S.-led coalition of western countries has been engage in airstrikes on ISIS controlled regions in Syria and Iraq for more than a year.
The French presidency’s statement on Sunday called for a “comprehensive response (to the) Syrian chaos”, saying: “Civilian populations must be protected against all forms of violence, that of Daesh and other terrorist groups, but also against the murderous bombings of (Syrian President) Bashar al-Assad”.
Iraq said it had agreed with Russian Federation, Iran and Syria to set up a unit in Baghdad to share intelligence on IS.
Kerry also discussed Syria with Iran’s foreign minister during a meeting at the United Nations on Saturday.
Outlining, Paris’ objectives for the UN General Assembly, Laurent Fabius, one of Assad’s staunchest critics, said that while demanding his immediate departure was not a precondition for talks, it was clear that the man behind 80 percent of deaths in Syria could not have a role in the future.
Washington refuses to accept a peace process that would leave Assad in power and so has backed and armed small “moderate” rebel groups.
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A first cross-border foray by 54 US-trained fighters was defeated by an Al-Qaeda linked militia and a second appears to have traded many of their arms to jihadists for safe passage.
