France has intensified its bombings in Syria since the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris claimed by Islamic State.
French jets from the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier struck Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria on Monday while Britain offered France the use of an air base in Cyprus to hit the militants group behind the Paris attacks.
French President Francois Hollande met British Prime Minister David Cameron
in Paris on Monday as part of efforts to rally support for the fight
against Islamic State and Hollande is also due to visit Washington and
Moscow this week.
Cameron offered air-to-air
refuelling services and said he was convinced Britain should carry out
air strikes alongside France on the group in Syria and would be
recommending that Britain's parliament vote through such measures.
France
has intensified its bombings in Syria since the Nov. 13 attacks in
Paris claimed by Islamic State that killed at least 130 people. The
group is also being targeted from the air by a U.S.-led coalition and
Russia.
French jets taking off from the country's
flagship in the eastern Mediterranean destroyed targets in Ramadi and
Mosul in Iraq on Monday in support of Iraqi forces on the ground, the
French armed forces said in a statement.
In the
evening another raid was carried out on Raqqa, Syria, where the French
armed forces said its planes had destroyed several facilities including a
command centre.
The arrival of the Charles de
Gaulle aircraft carrier in the area following the Paris attacks has
tripled the French air force's firepower by boosting the number of
planes targeting Islamic State to 38.
"I
firmly support the action that President Hollande has taken to strike
ISIL (Islamic State) in Syria and it is my firm conviction that Britain
should do so too," Cameron said at a joint news conference after his meeting with Hollande.
"Later this week, I will set out in parliament our comprehensive strategy for tackling ISIL," Cameron said.
Cameron is eager to avoid a repeat of 2013 when he lost a vote on air strikes against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces. Britain is already bombing Islamic State in Iraq.
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