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France plans further air strikes against IS: President

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IANS Paris

French jet fighters would continue airstrikes against militants of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq in the coming days in a bid to help restore security in Iraq, French President Francois Hollande said Friday.

"This morning, at 9.40 a.m., our Rafale jets launched the first strike against a logistics depot of the terrorists," Hollande said in a statement issued by his office, according to Xinhua.

"The target in northeast Iraq was totally destroyed. There would be further operations in the coming days with the aim of weakening this terrorist organisation and support Iraqi authorities," he added.

At a brief declaration posted on the Elysee website, the French head of state reiterated he would not send ground troops to Iraq and Paris military action would be limited to Iraq.

 

On Thursday, the French president announced air support to quell Islamist militants at the request of Iraqi authorities, pledging to start airstrikes soon once reconnaissance flights had identified targets.

Hollande said France would not deploy ground troops in the conflict-torn country.

"We will not go beyond that... we will only intervene in Iraq... In Iraq, we were called for help by the Iraqi authorities," Hollande said at a press meeting.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls would outline the French military operation in Iraq at parliament next week, a communique stated.

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First Published: Sep 19 2014 | 9:26 PM IST

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