French warplanes conducted their first airstrikes against targets in northern Iraq just hours after the U.S. Senate approved arming and training Syrian rebels to enter the fight against Islamic State militants.
Rafale fighters struck a logistics depot, which French President Francois Hollande declared "entirely destroyed."
Hollande, speaking to reporters in Paris, congratulated the pilots "who successfully fulfilled this mission."
A statement released earlier by the Elysée presidential palace promised "other operations will follow in coming days."
The New York Times writes: "Remarking on the violent tactics employed by the Sunni militants, who have conquered wide swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria, Mr. Hollande said Thursday at a news conference in Paris that the group had been able to grow partly because the international community had failed to intervene. But he emphasized that France's role would be limited to providing air support, including strikes, in Iraq."
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