French jets bomb ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, Syria; few may have been killed
By Ben Brumfield, Tim Lister and Nick Paton Walsh, CNN
Updated
12:58 PM EST, Mon November 16, 2015
Story highlights
NEW: An activist group in Raqqa says 24 bombs were dropped overnight
NEW: France targeted a command center, recruitment center, ammunition storage base and training camp, the military says
Analyst: Airstrikes send "a very strong political message, and it's all for internal consumption within France"
(CNN) —
The French air force carried out bombing missions on ISIS targets in Raqqa, Syria, for a second day in a row. France is retaliating against Islamist extremist terror attacks that killed at least 129 people in Paris.
ISIS claims Raqqa as the capital of its so-called caliphate.
On Monday, France targeted a command center, a recruitment center, an ammunition storage base and a training camp in the city, the French military said.
On Sunday, the air force struck similar strategic targets in multiple sorties, reinserting France, a partner in the U.S.-led coalition striking ISIS from the air, into the battle against ISIS.
A group of anti-ISIS activists in Raqqa reported 24 bombs dropped and 30 explosions overnight into Monday. Mostly the suburbs were hit, but in the city, the stadium and the museum were also struck, said Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently.
On Sunday, 12 aircraft dropped 20 bombs on ISIS positions in Raqqa, destroying all targets, France’s Defense Ministry said.
But French bombs may have killed few of the militants. The Islamist terror group has withdrawn from its sites in anticipation of the retaliation, Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently said. Streets have been empty, markets less crowded.
Also on Monday, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said that “war” had been declared on France and that “anybody who attacks the Republic, the Republic will fight back.”
“It is not they who will destroy the Republic. The Republic will destroy them,” he said.
France has been part of the U.S.-led coalition of nations fighting ISIS from the air, but after Friday’s attacks that killed 129 people and wounded more than 350 others, France has flown more sorties.
ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which France’s President described as “an act of war.”
A senior Obama administration official said that the United States was “working closely with the French to develop targets.”
The U.S. military probably handed over a list of targets the coalition was planning to strike to the French to let them fly the sorties, said retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, a military analyst. “These target packages were already in folders, as they’re called, and I’m sure the central command handed them over to the French fighters to attack for the symbolism of France being back in the fight.”
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, second from right, and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo arrive at the Bataclan, site of one of the Paris terrorists attacks, to pay their respects to the victims after Obama arrived in town for the COP21 climate change conference early on Monday, November 30, in Paris.
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The Eiffel Tower in Paris is illuminated in the French national colors on Monday, November 16. Displays of support for the French people were evident at landmarks around the globe after the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday, November 13.
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People hold hands as they observe a minute of silence in Lyon, France, on November 16, three days after the Paris attacks. A minute of silence was observed throughout the country in memory of the victims of the country's deadliest violence since World War II.
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French President Francois Hollande, center, flanked by French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, right, and French Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, center left, stands among students during a minute of silence in the courtyard of the Sorbonne University in Paris on November 16.
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A large crowd gathers to lay flowers and candles in front of the Carillon restaurant in Paris on Sunday, November 15.
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People light candles in tribute to the Paris victims on November 15 in Budapest, Hungary.
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People gather outside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on November 15 for a national service for the victims of the city's terror attacks.
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People write messages on the ground at Place de la Republique in Paris on November 15.
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People pray during a candlelight vigil for victims of the Paris attacks at a church in Islamabad, Pakistan, on November 15.
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French golfer Gregory Bourdy passes a peace symbol for the Paris victims during the BMW Shanghai Masters tournament November 15 in Shanghai, China.
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A man offers a prayer in memory of victims of the Paris attacks at the French Embassy in Tokyo on November 15.
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A woman holds a candle atop a miniature replica of the Eiffel Tower during a candlelight vigil Saturday, November 14, in Vancouver, British Columbia.
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Front pages of Japanese newspapers in Tokyo show coverage and photos of the Paris attacks on November 14.
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An electronic billboard on a canal in Milan, Italy reads, in French, "I'm Paris," on November 14.
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The Eiffel Tower stands dark as a mourning gesture on November 14, in Paris. More than 125 people were killed in a series of coordinated attacks in Paris on Friday. People around the world reacted in horror to the deadly terrorist assaults.
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ETIENNE LAURENT/EPA/EPA /LANDOV
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Lithuanians hold a candlelight vigil in front of the French Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania, on November 14.
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Thousands gather in London's Trafalgar Square for a candlelit vigil on November 14 to honor the victims of the Paris attacks.
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A woman lights candles at a memorial near the Bataclan theater in Paris on November 14.
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A man places a candle in front of Le Carillon cafe in Paris on November 14.
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A woman holds a French flag during a gathering in Stockholm, Sweden, on November 14.
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Nancy Acevedo prays for France during the opening prayer for the Sunshine Summit being held at Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Florida on November 14.
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French soldiers of the United Nations' interim forces in Lebanon observe the national flag at half-staff at the contingent headquarters in the village of Deir Kifa on November 14.
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A couple surveys the signature sails of the Sydney Opera House lit in the colors of the French flag in Sydney on November 14.
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A woman places flowers in front of the French Consulate in St. Petersburg, Russia, on November 14.
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Candles are lit in Hong Kong on November 14 to remember the scores who died in France.
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A woman lights a candle outside the French Consulate in Barcelona, Spain, on November 14.
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Britain's Prince Charles expresses solidarity with France at a birthday barbecue in his honor near Perth, Australia, on November 14.
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The French national flag flutters at half-staff on November 14 at its embassy in Beijing.
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Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte after a speech on November 14 in The Hague following the attacks.
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe becomes emotional after his speech on the French attacks during the opening ceremony of a Japanese garden in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 14.
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A woman mourns outside Le Carillon bar in the 10th district of Paris on November 14. The attackers ruthlessly sought out soft targets where people were getting their weekends underway.
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People lay flowers outside the French Embassy in Moscow on November 14.
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Mourners gather outside Le Carillon bar in the 10th district of Paris on November 14. "We were listening to music when we heard what we thought were the sounds of firecrackers," a doctor from a nearby hospital who was drinking in the bar with colleagues told Le Monde. "A few moments later, it was a scene straight out of a war. Blood everywhere."
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Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
People attend a vigil outside the French Consulate in Montreal. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered "all of Canada's support" to France on Friday, November 13, in the wake of the attacks.
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Police show a heightened presence in Times Square in New York on November 13, following the terrorist attacks in Paris.
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People light candles at a vigil outside the French Consulate in Montreal on November 13.
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Graham Hughes/AP
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University of Nevada, Las Vegas, fans observe a moment of silence for the victims of the terrorist attacks in Paris before a basketball game November 13.
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Sam Morris/AP
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The house lights are shut off and scoreboard dark as Boston Celtics players pause for a moment of silence for the Paris victims before an NBA basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks in Boston on November 13.
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Charles Krupa/AP
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People light candles at a vigil outside the French Consulate in Montreal on November 13.
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The timing of the new airstrikes probably is no coincidence, analysts said.
“Clearly, it’s a military activity, but it really sends a very strong political message, and it’s all for internal consumption within France,” said retired Maj. Gen. James “Spider” Marks, a CNN military analyst. “This is very visceral.”
ISIS in Raqqa was also the target of retaliatory airstrikes in February.
Two days after news emerged that the group had burned a captive Jordanian pilot to death, the Middle Eastern nation hit back. At the time, ISIS posted photos of the destruction from the Jordanian airstrikes, and the activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 10 militants had been killed.
