France launches first airstrikes on Islamic State in Syria

France has fired its first airstrikes in Syria as it expands military operations against Islamic State extremists.

Paris has been a part of the US-led global coalition to wipe out IS and has carried out airstrikes in Iraq.

President Francois Hollande, speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, described the camp as a “threat to our country”.

President François Hollande later said that six French jets had struck an IS training camp in Syria, destroying their targets, and warned of more strikes in coming weeks.

At the same time, he said, “The future of Syria can not be with Bashar al Assad”.

Until now, France has limited its air strikes on the extremist group to Iraqi territory, but in an announcement earlier this month, it cited self-defence as its rationale for expanding its policy to Syria. The targets were identified in earlier French reconnaissance flights and with information provided by the U.S.-led coalition.

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

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. “And anyway, there will not be any political solution without a dialogue with all of the parties who directly or indirectly are involved with Syria”, Valls said.

Sunday’s air raids on the IS training camp site in the Euphrates valley lasted about five hours, the Defense Ministry said, with fighter jets – five of them Delta-winged Rafales, taking off from Jordan and the Persian Gulf, the ministry said without naming the Gulf location.

The goal of the strikes is to “slow, break, stop if possible the penetration of Daesh”, Gen. Vincent Desportes said on the iTele TV station, using the Arabic acronym for IS.

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”.