French aircraft carrier begins Iraq operations: French sources
France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier has started military operations against Islamic State in Iraq, a French army source said on Monday. "The carrier and its naval group has officially started missions as part of its Chammal operation in Iraq," the source told Reuters in a reference to the name of the mission. A second source said […]France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier has started military operations against Islamic State in Iraq, a French army source said on Monday. "The carrier and its naval group has officially started missions as part of its Chammal operation in Iraq," the source told Reuters in a reference to the name of the mission. A second source said the carrier would be engaged for several weeks.
Le Figaro newspaper, which is accompanying Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian ahead of an official announcement he is set to make on the carrier on Monday, said the first reconnaissance and possible air strikes in Iraq took place in the morning. France was the first country to join the U.S.-led coalition in air strikes in Iraq against Islamic State insurgents, who have also taken control of large parts of neighboring Syria during the course of the civil war there. However, it has ruled out striking the group in Syria.
