For two days in a row French fighter jets have attacked Islamic State targets inside of Syria particularly on their self styled capital of Raqqa.
French warplanes have been conducting airstrikes for the last two days in the strategic city of Raqqa, Syria. It is the stronghold and self styled capital of the Islamic State caliphate in Syria. On Monday, French airstrikes targeted supply and ammunition centers as well as a storage facility and training base.
France has been a part of the United States led coalition in Syria all along, but they are now determined to step up their game in light of the recent attacks in Paris, reports CNN. On Sunday, the French air force repeatedly pounded targets in and around Raqqa.
In the French attacks, the football stadium as well as a museum were bombed. The damage to the structures was minimal as the Islamic State uses the stadium both as a headquarters facility and a prison. The French military reports that all of the targets attacked on Sunday were destroyed. There has been little civilian movement in Raqqa as the marketplaces as well as the streets appear to be empty of foot traffic.
Many of the targets had already been approved by the American-led coalition command. It was decided to let the French fly the missions so that the Islamic State would know that France has re-entered the fight in a big way. On Monday the French government, through their interior minister, announced that war had been openly declared on France and that France would engage its enemies and fight back. The government said that those who seek to destroy France will be instead be destroyed themselves.
France seeks retribution for the brutal and murderous attacks on Paris last Friday that has left at least 129 dead and 352 severely wounded. France knows that the Islamic State has a huge stake in the outcome of the four-year-old civil war in Syria and it is there that France feels it can do the most damage to them.
