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Why did French warplanes strike Al-Raqqah after the Paris attacks?
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Paris attacks of 2015
Significant sites related to the terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13, 2015.
French warplanes struck Al-Raqqah, Syria, on November 15, 2015, as a direct retaliatory measure following the terrorist attacks in Paris that occurred two days earlier.1
After the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the bloodshed, French President François Hollande characterized the violence as an "act of war". Because Al-Raqqah served as the de facto capital of ISIL, the airstrikes were launched to target the organization responsible for the attacks, marking a significant escalation in France's military involvement in the Syrian Civil War.123