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Rabat — France has conducted a series of airstrikes against ISIS positions in Syria after the fall of Assad’s regime, according to French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu.
He announced the news on Tuesday, noting that French aircraft have bombed ISIS bases in Syria.
“Our armed forces remain engaged in battling terrorism in the Levant,” Lecornu said on X, while on a New Year visit to French UN peacekeepers in Lebanon. “On Sunday, French air fighters carried out targeted strikes against Daesh on Syrian soil,” he added.
The defence ministry told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that France’s Rafale fighter jets along with US-made Reaper drones “dropped a total of seven bombs on two military targets belonging to Daesh in central Syria.”
France has belonged to the Inherent Resolve international coalition against IS since 2014, for Iraq, and 2015 for Syria. French troops involved in the operations are based in the region, including in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Regional Analysts fear that IS might regroup and recalibrate their foothold in some regions of Syria after Assad’s fall to a shock offensive by Syrian rebels led by a radical Sunni group.
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Washington said in mid-December that it had doubled American troop numbers fighting jihadists in Syria, to around 2,000. Its Central Command (Centcom) – responsible for the Middle East – said it wanted to ensure that IS “does not seek to take advantage of the current situation to reconstitute in central Syria.”
Around 2,500 US troops are also deployed in Iraq, according to the White House.
In recent weeks, Israeli Occupation Forces have also launched a series of airstrikes in Syria claiming that the attacks targeted weapon caches, air defence systems, and naval assets, to “prevent them from falling into the hands of IS.”
The city of Tartus saw the most intense bombing after powerful explosions were registered as a 3.0 magnitude earthquake.
Israel’s IOF has moved in recent days into parts of southern Syria to create a “security buffer zone” along the border. Syrian villagers held protests against Israeli presence on Syrian lands.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that these actions are temporary and intended to ensure Israel’s security by preventing advanced weapons from reaching hostile groups.
