French military bombs ISIS positions in Syria, the first since fall of Assad govt
World News, Middle East: France has been part of the Inherent Resolve international coalition against ISIS. A total of seven bombs were dropped on two positions in Syria.
The French military bombed positions of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria on Tuesday (Dec 31), the first such strike in the West Asian country since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government.
In a post on X, Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said, "Our armed forces remain engaged in battling terrorism in the Levant."
"On Sunday, French air assets carried out targeted strikes against Daesh (the Arabic name for ISIS) on Syrian soil," he added.
A total of seven bombs dropped in central Syria
Speaking to the news agency AFP, the French defence ministry said that Rafale fighter jets and US-made Reaper drones dropped "a total of seven bombs on two military targets belonging to Daesh in central Syria."
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France has been part of the Inherent Resolve international coalition against ISIS since 2014 for Iraq and 2015 for Syria.
The Syrian rebel group's battle with the ISIS
The rebel offensive in Syria, which led to Bashar al-Assad's ouster, was led by theHayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Also read | Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa urges US to lift sanctions, blames Assad regime for them
AFP reported that in its Idlib stronghold, the HTS has long battled jihadists from the Islamic State group, which was territorially defeated in Syria in 2019.
Recently, Syria's de-factor leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has tapped dozens of former rebels for high-ranking army positions, several of whom are foreign fighters.
A decree published late Sunday on the Telegram account of Sharaa's General Command listed 49 people to be made commanders, in the first such announcement since the fall of the Assad government on December 8.
(With inputs from agencies)