PARIS, September 25 (RIA Novosti) – The French Air Force could strike positions of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization in Iraq on Thursday, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told RTL radio Thursday morning.
"At the very time I'm talking to you, French planes are in the sky over Iraq and, if necessary, will strike [IS positions]. If they do not they will continue to identify the goals that become targets tomorrow," the minister said.
French Air Force reconnaissance aircraft have been patrolling the airspace over Iraq since mid-September monitoring the activities of the radical Islamist group.
On September 19, French President Francois Hollande issued a statement announcing the beginning of airstrikes against IS militants. It is also known that the French planes have hit IS positions in the country at least once, destroying one of the jihadists' warehouses.
The IS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has been fighting against Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, the group extended its attacks to northern and western Iraq, declaring a caliphate on the territories over which it had control.
