Paris attack: France launches airstrike on ISIS stronghold

London, Nov. 16 : True to their vow of retaliation, France carried out massive raids in Syria, their biggest to date, in co-ordination with US forces, striking the ISIS stronghold in Raqqa just days after the terror outfit carried a series of coordinated attacks that killed around 129 people.Raqqa is seen as the de facto capital of the Islamic State’s territory.According to the Guardian, the French defence ministry has claimed that the raid was launched simultaneously from the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. “The raid, including 10 fighter jets, was launched simultaneously from the UAE and Jordan. Twenty bombs were dropped,” the statement from the ministry said. The mission that was carried out last evening was carried out with the coordinated aid of forces by the US.According to the statement, the airstrikes struck a command centre, recruitment centre for jihadists, a munitions depot, and a training camp for fighters. The sites targeted had previously been identified on reconnaissance flights.The daily also reported that a defence official has claimed the raids to be ‘massive’ and that two jihadi strikes in Raqqa.Earlier, French President Francois Hollande said the Paris attack were an act of war that that been organised, planned from the outside with ‘inside’ help and swore a merciless retribution.”We are going to lead a war which will be pitiless. Because when terrorists are capable of committing such atrocities they must be certain that they are facing a determined France, a united France, a France that is together and does not let itself be moved, even if today we express infinite sorrow,” the President said in a statement.