A French aircraft carrier launched operations in the Gulf against the Islamic State group today as the new Pentagon chief summoned top generals and diplomats to Kuwait to review war efforts.
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter vowed the jihadists would suffer a "lasting defeat" as he convened the extraordinary meeting of more than two dozen senior military officers, ambassadors and intelligence officials at the sprawling US Army base of Camp Arifjan.
Washington forged a coalition of Western and Arab nations to confront IS after the Sunni Muslim extremist group seized control of large parts of Syria and Iraq and declared an Islamic "caliphate" last year.
The coalition has since carried out more than 2,000 air strikes against the jihadists and France boosted its participation today with the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier launching raids from the Gulf.
"This threat, jihadist terrorism, wants to reach our citizens, our interests, our values. France's response will be total firmness," Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said as he launched operations seven weeks after extremist attacks killed 17 people in Paris.
Four Rafale fighter jets took off in the morning from the carrier as it sailed about 200 kilometres (120 miles) off the coast north of Bahrain in the direction of Iraq.
Carrying 12 Rafale and nine Super Etendard fighters, the carrier will spend eight weeks in the Gulf working alongside the USS Carl Vinson, significantly increasing French air capabilities in the region.
France, along with Australia, is a main contributor to the 32-member coalition effort aside from the United States, which is carrying out the bulk of strikes.
France and other Western nations are conducting operations over Iraq and several Arab nations are taking part in strikes over Syria.
The campaign aims to support forces in Iraq and Syria, including rebel fighters and Kurdish forces, battling IS on the ground and to hit infrastructure seized by the jihadist group such as oil facilities.
"Air support... For our Iraqi and Kurdish allies has helped curb the territorial expansion of (IS) and stabilise the front lines. This was our first objective and it has been attained," Le Drian said.
While excluding the deployment of ground combat troops, coalition countries have also sent trainers to work with Iraqi forces.
In Kuwait only days after taking office, Carter told US troops at Camp Arifjan that the coalition was "pressing" IS "very ably from Kuwait and elsewhere".
