The French president, François Hollande, has said France will have to carry out airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria.
The announcement came after Paris ordered reconnaissance flights over the Islamist group’s positions, in response to the refugee crisis that has seen thousands of Syrians flee the country.
At a press conference on Monday last week, Hollande had said a decision over whether France would join coalition air attacks on Isis strongholds would depend on information from surveillance flights, which he ordered to begin the following day.
On Monday, he said a decision had been made. “We announced reconnaissance flights would be carried out allowing us to envisage strikes if necessary ... and it will be necessary,” Hollande said at a press conference with the Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari, in Paris.
Until now, France has not taken part in airstrikes against Isis, fearing that such action might maintain the regime of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.
Last week, Hollande said the only solution to the Syrian crisis, that has led to an exodus of millions of Syrians from the country, was for Assad to go.
