Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
French jets have been flying reconnaissance missions over Syria to identify targets
France has carried out its first air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria, the president’s office says.
French planes had hit targets identified during reconnaissance missions over the past fortnight, the statement said, without giving details.
The French prime minister said the strikes had hit IS “sanctuaries where those who attack France are trained”.
A US-led coalition has been carrying out air strikes against IS in Syria and Iraq for more than a year.
France, like the UK, has previously confined its air strikes against the Islamic State group to Iraqi airspace.
The UK announced earlier this month it had carried out a drone strike against two British citizens in Syria but has yet to fly manned operations in Syrian airspace.
Analysis: Hugh Scholfield, BBC News, Paris
The French air strikes in Syria reflect the shifting emphasis in the war against the Islamic State. Before now, France said that international law prevented it from attacking targets in Syria, and it was adamant that it would do nothing to help – even indirectly – the Assad government.
But the situation has changed. France now says it has evidence that IS planned terror attacks against it from Syria – making air strikes against the militants legitimate under UN rules on self-defence.
The biggest change though is that France has swallowed hard and accepted that getting rid of Mr Assad is no longer the priority.
Paris will not ever say it too loudly – because it used to be the Syrian president’s most outspoken opponent – but at the moment the fight against IS trumps everything else.
Diplomatic goals behind Putin’s Syria build-up
Migrant crisis: Fleeing life under Islamic State in Syria
The battle for Syria and Iraq in maps
Assad’s position
More than 200,000 Syrians have been killed since the country erupted into civil war in 2011. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been accused of killing tens of thousands of his own citizens with indiscriminate bombing in rebel-held areas.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius insisted on Saturday that Mr Assad was “responsible for the current chaos” and could not stay in power as part of a peace deal.
“If we were to say to the Syrians that the future lies with Assad, then we will expose ourselves to failure,” he told a news conference at the UN in New York.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron – along with US President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande – has previously demanded that Mr Assad be removed from power as a condition of any peace deal, but he is expected to soften that position this week.
Mr Assad has a staunch ally in Russian President Vladimir Putin. In order to secure Russia’s support in the fight against IS, Mr Cameron is expected to tell the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York that Mr Assad could remain temporarily in power at the head of a transitional government.
European leaders gathering at the UN are intensifying calls for a diplomatic push in Syria in the wake of a massive influx of refugees heading for Europe.
Approximately four million Syrians have fled abroad so far – the vast majority are in neighbouring Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan – and more are on the move.
The urgency of finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict has also been reinforced by Russian military build-up in Syria in support of Mr Assad’s regime.
And in an apparent further boost to Mr Assad’s position, Iraq on Sunday announced that it had signed an agreement on security and intelligence co-operation with with Russia, Iran and Syria to help combat IS.
BBC