France says it has carried out five airstrikes in northern Iraq as part of stepped-up military operations against Islamic State militants.

The army tweeted Monday that the French military carried out strikes Saturday and Sunday on targets in Ramadi, Fallujah, Sinjar and Mosul.

The action took place with ground support from the Iraqi army and forms part of Operation Chammal, which began in September 2014 in Iraq and was extended to Syria in September 2015. It is limited to airstrikes and French President Francois Hollande has said that ground troops will not be used.

France’s parliament voted last week to step up the strikes against IS in the wake of the Paris attacks that IS claimed, which left 130 dead and hundreds more injured.

(AP)