Nov 16, 2015, AFP – French warplanes pounded the Islamic State group's de facto capital in Syria on Sunday, in the first such strikes since a wave of coordinated attacks claimed by the jihadists left 132 people dead in Paris.
As the nation prepared to mourn the victims of the carnage in a minute of silence on Monday, a dozen warplanes dropped 20 bombs on IS targets in the Islamists' stronghold of Raqa, signalling the French government's resolve in its fight against the group.
The strike destroyed an IS command post, jihadist recruitment centre, a munitions depot and a "terrorist" training camp, the defence ministry said.
The air raids came after President Francois Hollande called the Paris attacks – the worst in the country's history – an "act of war" and vowed to hit back "without mercy".