3 French Mirage jet fighters deployed in Jordan

First batch of planes reaches Hashemite kingdom as part of effort against Islamic State

By AFP 30 November 2014, 4:58 am 1

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Pilots from the French Air Forces detachment (DETAIR) are pictured next to a Mirage 2000D fighter jet at the Air Base 101, on November 23, 2014 in Niamey. (photo credit: AFP/MIGUEL MEDINA)

AMMAN, Jordan — Three French Mirage warplanes have been deployed in Jordan to assist in the fight against the Islamic State group, a military spokesman said on Saturday.

France, which is participating in US-led coalition air strikes in Iraq, said this month it would deploy six jet fighters in Jordan.

Army spokesman Colonel Mamduh al-Amiri said three of the aircraft arrived late Friday as part of the “operational strategy to confront threats in the region,” according to state-run Petra news agency.

Amiri did not say where the jets were deployed or when the other three would arrive in Jordan, a neighbor of both Syria and Iraq where IS jihadists have seized swathes of territory.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told a weekly cabinet meeting on Wednesday that the deployment of the six fighters would “strengthen our presence in this theatre of operations”.

France already has nine Rafale warplanes in the United Arab Emirates, which along with Jordan is part of the international coalition fighting the jihadists.