French planes carried out their first airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq early Friday, the government said.
Less than 24 hours after President Francois Hollande announced that he had approved a request from the government in Baghdad for air support, at least two French Rafale planes attacked the insurgents' positions, according to a statement from his office.
"This morning at 9:40 a.m. [Paris time] our Rafale aircraft carried out a first attack against a logistics center of the terrorist organization Daesh in the northeast of Iraq," the statement said, using an Arabic name for the Islamic State. "The target was hit and entirely destroyed. Other operations will be carried out in the days to come."
The target was near Tall Mouss in the Zumar sector of northern Iraq. The French aircraft are based at Al-Dhafra near Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
The French Defense Ministry said the destroyed building, containing vehicles, weapons and fuel, had been hit four times.
"We were able to do this thanks to the reconnaissance missions we have been carrying out since Monday. The mission was carried out in direct coordination with the Iraqi authorities and our allies in the region," the ministry said.
"France is acting in Iraq for the good of collective security and its own security," it continued. "The threat from this jihadist group is unusual because of its size, its weaponry, its determination and its actions. Our goal is to contribute to peace and security in Iraq and to weaken the terrorists."
A senior French official, speaking in Washington on condition of anonymity to discuss internal decisions, said French special forces are on the ground in the Kurdish region to assist in relaying target information for the jets and to help equip and train Kurdish peshmerga forces.
The official also said that France does not believe it has the legal authority to strike Islamic State positions inside Syria.
The U.S. Central Command said Thursday that the United States has carried out 176 airstrikes in Iraq since Aug. 8. On Wednesday, it hit a militant training camp southeast of Mosul and an ammunition stockpile southeast of Baghdad.
The French airstrike took place while U.S. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was in France for meetings with his counterpart, Gen. Pierre de Villiers.
Dempsey, who was told of the attack by De Villiers during a visit to an American military cemetery in Normandy, praised the French action, the Associated Press reported.
"The French were our very first ally and they are there again for us," Dempsey told reporters. "It just reminds me why these relationships really matter."
Willsher is a special correspondent. Staff writer Brian Bennett in Washington contributed to this report.
9:19 a.m.: This post has been updated with comments by a French official in Washington.
This post was originally published at 7:29 a.m.
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