French planes carry out air strikes on Isis targets in Iraq

French planes have carried out air strikes on Islamic State (Isis) targets in Iraq as the US prepares to broaden the campaign against the terror group by attacking targets in neighbouring Syria.
The French intervention took place less than 24 hours after it was authorised by President François Hollande and marks the first time a foreign air force has joined the US in launching strikes since Isis rampaged through the Levant over the summer.
It came as Kurds in northern Syria pleaded for international help to rescue them from Isis forces that have besieged them for the past three days in the town of Kobani near the Turkish border.

Thousands of people fled Kobani and up to 20 surrounding villages, with many Kurds crossing the Turkish border as the jihadists advanced. The desperate scenes are similar to those across the nearby border in northern Iraq in August, when Isis attacked minorities including Yazidis and Christians on the Nineveh plains, forcing them to flee lands they had lived in for several thousand years.
Kurds, in Syria and Iraq, have been in the sights of the jihadists since they gained ascendancy in the Syrian civil war in April last year. North-eastern Syria had been the scene of fierce fighting between Kurdish militias and Isis forces. The Kurds had, until now, largely held their ground.
However, Isis moved toward them this week using arms looted from the Iraqi army when it abandoned northern Iraq from 10 June, leaving behind tens of thousands of tonnes of US-supplied heavy weapons, most of which ended up in the hands of the terror group.
Ameen, a teacher originally from Kabani, said people fleeing the town were terrified and in grave danger. "My family has just crossed the Turkish border and I was on the phone with them. They told me that artillery has been fired at the village from a distance and there are more than 3,000 civilians trapped. This is a genocide against us."
Um Waleed tried to flee to Turkey on Friday with her 11 children, but said they were unable to cross the border. "I am not sure who's worse: Isis or Turkey. Isis is destroying our village and Turkey is locking us from their borders to be killed. I ran away yesterday morning and stayed at the border till 10pm. We had to sleep in the streets. We lost our homes and there is nowhere to go. I came back today and kept begging them to let us in. I lost my voice from crying and begging. This is humiliating."
Military gains by Isis in western Iraq and northern Syria have made the border between the two countries irrelevant. However, many of the 30 or so international partners that Barack Obama has assembled are more comfortable sending forces to Iraq, where they would operate with the welcome of the Iraqi government, than Syria, whose regime is under boycott by the US and its allies.
Hollande has insisted that French action will be confined to Iraq. The French jets flew from the United Arab Emirates, which has quickly emerged as a vital part of a US-led coalition against Isis, along with the regional Sunni powerhouse, Saudi Arabia.
Britain, meanwhile, is under growing pressure to send fighter jets to join the campaign. David Cameron had been unwilling to respond to the requests while the government's political energy was consumed by the Scottish referendum and there is a belief within Whitehall that the prime minister will return to the issue next week.
However, the two British hostages in Isis custody are also a factor. Alan Henning, a Manchester taxi driver, has appeared on a video flagged as the next foreigner to be murdered if Britain continues its support for the Kurdish peshmerga forces.
Britain, France and the US have all delivered weapons to the Kurds of northern Iraq. Hollande said he had approved a request from Baghdad for air support and that two French Rafale fighter jets had hit targets in north-eastern Iraq.
A statement from his office said: "This morning, at 9.40am, our Rafale aircraft carried out a first attack against a logistics centre of the terrorist organisation Daesh [Isis] in the north-east of Iraq. The target was hit and entirely destroyed. Other operations will be carried out in the days to come."
The target was near Tall Mouss in the Zoumar sector of northern Iraq. The French aircraft are based at Dhafra, near Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
France's defence ministry said the destroyed building, containing vehicles, weapons and fuel, had been hit four times. "We were able to do this thanks to the reconnaissance missions we have been carrying out since Monday. The mission was carried out in direct coordination with the Iraqi authorities and our allies in the region," it said. "The threat from this jihadist group is unusual because of its size, its weaponry, its determination and its actions. Our goal is to contribute to peace and security in Iraq and to weaken the terrorists."
President Barack Obama previously praised Hollande's decision to join the campaign against Isis, also called Isil. "Today the United States continues to build a broad international coalition to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as Isil. As part of the air campaign France will join in strikes against (ISIS) in Iraq," he said