French Jets Wipe Out IS Training Camp In Syria

Six French fighter jets have destroyed an Islamic State training camp in Syria, in France’s first airstrikes in the country.

President Francois Hollande, speaking at the United Nations in New York, said the camp was a threat to French security and was destroyed without any civilian casualties.

Mr Hollande’s office earlier said that the strikes were based on information from reconnaissance flights conducted earlier this month.

France has been conducting airstrikes on IS extremists in Iraq as part of the US-led coalition since last year.

But Mr Hollande’s government had resisted joining the campaign in Syria because it did not want to strengthen the regime of President Bashar al Assad.

In his statement on Sunday before his comments at the UN, Mr Hollande said: “Civilian populations must be protected from all forms of violence, that of IS and other terrorist groups but also the murderous bombardments of Bashar Assad.”

The French leader announced a change in strategy earlier this month because of concerns about Syria’s refugee crisis.

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.

Mr Hollande, who along with other world leaders is in New York for the UN General Assembly, also stressed the importance of finding a political solution to Syria’s four-year civil war.

“More than ever the urgency is putting in place a political transition,” including elements of the opposition and the Assad regime, he said.

The French government has insisted that while it is part of the US-led coalition, it is deciding who and what to hit.

ref:skynews.co.uk