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By Sophie Louet
PARIS (Reuters) – France's top military official said on Thursday that his forces were ready to strike at Syrian targets if chemical weapons were used in a planned government offensive to retake Idlib province in the north. from the country.
Russia, the ally of President Bashar al-Assad, resumed Tuesday air strikes against insurgents in Idlib, after weeks of bombing and bombing by Syrian pro-government forces.
"We are ready to strike if chemical weapons are used again," armed forces chief Francois Lecointre told a small group of journalists. "They can be done at the national level but it is in our interest to do it with as many partners as possible."
In April, France, the United States and Britain launched more than 100 missiles on pro-government targets in retaliation for an alleged attack of poison gas.
The prospect of an offensive on Idlib is alerting aid agencies. The United Nations has declared that about half of the 3 million people living in the rebel-held northwestern areas have already been displaced. He estimates that about 10,000 jihadists are in the area.
Lecointre said he expects the last pockets of ISIS resistance in Syria and Iraq to be eliminated by the end of November.
The fate of Idlib now seems to be based on a summit Friday in Tehran between the leaders of Russia, Turkey and Iran.
While the United States and its allies warned against a bloodbath, they made it clear that they would intervene only if they felt that chemical weapons had been used.
A French military source said the indications were that Russia and its allies wanted to conclude the Idlib offensive by the end of the year.
The source said Paris thought the US would maintain its military presence in Kurdish-controlled areas of northwestern Syria, as Washington wanted to limit Iran's influence in Syria.
(Written by John Irish, edited by Luke Baker and Richard Lough)
