A rafale aircraft takes-off from the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle during operations in the Mediterranean Sea in this picture released November 23, 2015, after a series of deadly attacks in the French capital on November 13. France’s Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier is deployed to support operations against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
French President Francois Hollande will visit on Friday military personnel on the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier off the Syrian coast, his office said in a statement. “He will meet the military involved in intensifying the battle against Daesh [Islamic State] in Syria and Iraq,” the statement said. The carrier, which has 38 warplanes on board, was deployed to the east Mediterranean just days after Islamic State claimed responsibility for attacks in Paris that killed 130 people on Nov. 13.
