France to hit Daesh targets in Syria 'in coming weeks'

PARIS

France will launch airstrikes against Daesh in Syria in the coming weeks, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the French radio, France Inter, on Wednesday.

Le Drian said that French jets would launch airstrikes against Daesh targets in Syria "in the coming weeks, as soon as they have clearly identified targets".

He refused to give more details about the strikes that French President Francois Hollande said on Monday might be "necessary".

"I will not tell you our plans, it would be a tactical error," Le Drian said.

He denied that there was any agreement between France and the Damascus-based Bashar al-Assad regime, which would allow French jets to fly over Syrian territory without getting exposed to anti-aircraft fire.

"Every air operation is risky and we are taking necessary steps to avoid dangers that our pilots face there," he said.

France has been carrying out reconnaissance flights over Syria since September 8 to locate Daesh command centers in preparation for possible airstrikes against the terrorist group in Syria.

On Tuesday, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls ruled out sending ground troops to Syria, although he said France might provide support to coalition forces there to fight Daesh.

The French premier also said that reconnaissance missions would likely last for several weeks to determine Daesh targets.

On Friday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said France had not yet decided to conduct airstrikes against Daesh inside Syria and would limit its aerial operations there to reconnaissance flights for the time being.

The Syria conflict began in early 2011 when the regime of Bashar al-Assad responded with unexpected ferocity to popular protests that erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings.

More than four years of intense fighting has left the country divided between pro-Assad forces and a number of heavily armed opposition factions, which are often at odds among themselves.

Roughly half of the country’s population has been displaced by the violence, with over four million Syrians now seeking refuge in neighboring countries, especially Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.

More than 250,000 people have died in the Syrian conflict, and millions more have been displaced, according to the UN.