“We have to redouble our efforts”, he said, adding that he would discuss the issue with key players including the United States, Turkey, Iran, Russian Federation and Saudi Arabia in the next few days.
Advertisement
The French president’s office announced the strikes, without details, in a statement hours earlier.
“We reached our goal and the whole training camp was destroyed”, Hollande said.
Hollande told reporters the strikes on the training camp, and others to come, were aimed at “protecting our territory, cutting short terrorist actions, acting in legitimate defense”.
France has been part of the US-led coalition bombarding IS in Iraq since September 2014, and has carried out 215 out of almost 4,500 strikes there, according to French and U.S. figures.
France was ready to join air strikes on military installations in Syria in 2013 in response to a massive chemical weapon attack before US President Barack Obama turned against it after Assad agreed to abandon his chemical arsenal.
Hollande said more strikes “could take place in the coming weeks if necessary”. It was further stated that the strikes hit targets identified during reconnaissance missions conducted over the past fortnight.
Iraq has long had close ties with neighboring Iran and has coordinated with Tehran in fighting IS – which controls about a third of Iraq and Syria in a self-declared caliphate.
A source in the presidency said the strikes were carried out early on Sunday morning. But it previously held back on engaging in Syria, citing concern over playing into Assad’s hand and the need for such action to be covered by worldwide law.
France also on Sunday called for a “global solution” to the Syrian crisis, saying it supported United Nations special envoy Staffan de Mistura’s initiative to work towards a political transition for the country.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls said France was going after IS “sanctuaries where those who want to hit France are trained”.
However analysts say that by sending fighter jets to Syria, France is mainly seeking to ease domestic political pressure, and remain relevant overseas in the latest scramble for a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
“Barring either regime victory over the insurgency, which is unlikely, or a USA policy shift toward political transition away from Assad – which would bring regional allies and insurgents on board against ISIS – I don’t see any prospect of defeating ISIS“, Itani said.
Advertisement
“If we wait while doing nothing then we are taking the risk of letting Daesh claim the Palestinian cause as its own”, Fabius said, referring to the Arabic acronym for ISIL.
