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.
