President Hollande has announced France will start to send reconnaissance flights over Syria from tomorrow with airstrikes being considered to fight against Islamic State, although sending in ground troops has been ruled out.
Previously France had limited its planes to Iraqi airspace with the US carrying out strikes in Syria and Iraq.
President Hollande said, “We have proof that attacks against several countries, notably ours, are being planned.”
“What we hope to learn is what is being planned against us and what is happening to the Syria population.”
France has recently been the subject of a number of terror attacks, most notably the shooting at the Charlie Hebdo offices in January this year.
The announcement comes in the face of mounting international pressure on all countries to find a solution not just to the refugee crisis in Europe, but also the cause of the displacement in Syria and other IS strongholds. According to the UN 9 milion people have been displaced in Syria so far.
