French air force fighter jets dropped bombs on ISIL targets near Mosul Friday, in the first military action by France supporting the U.S.-led campaign to defeat the Islamic jihadists in Iraq and Syria.

With this action, France becomes the first nation to join the U.S. air strike campaign in Iraq, in sharp contrast to the country's stand more than a decade ago when it refused to support the invasion of Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

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"This morning, at 9:40, our Rafale planes carried out a first strike against a logistics depot of the terrorist organization," French President Francois Hollande announced.

Hollande's office did not say what was specifically targeted, saying only that the objective was hit and completely destroyed.

Sources at the French defense ministry said two fighter jets dropped laser-guided GBU-12 bombs on an ISIL depot near the Mosul area.

A Kurdish military spokesman identified the location as Tal Mus, between Mosul and the city of Zumar. Halgord Hekmat said they are "happy that France started its raids."

On Thursday, President Hollande said he has decided "to respond positively to the Iraqi authorities to provide air support."

"We will not go beyond that. There will not be ground troops and we will only intervene in Iraq," Hollande said.

France started to fly surveillance missions over Iraq on Monday, with jets flying from a French air base in the United Arab Emirates. Currently, France has six Rafale fighters on the base along with some 1,000 military personnel. The French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is also available to launch air strikes from when it becomes necessary, according to defense ministry sources.

The U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman, General Martin Dempsey, was visiting Normandy with his French counterpart, General Pierre de Villiers, when the French attack on ISIL took place, and praised the French action when he was informed about it.

"The French were our very first ally and they are there again for us," Dempsey told reporters traveling with him. "It just reminds me why these relationships really matter." 

The U.S. has already carried out more than 170 air strikes since August 8, meant to protect northern Iraq territories against advancing jihadists, and to help Iraqi forces retake lost ground.

U.S. forces have also been ordered to launch air strikes against the ISIL inside Syria, although this phase has not started. 

TagsHollande, Iraq, ISIL