France is sending an aircraft carrier to help in the fight against the terror group ISIS in Iraq and Syria, French President Francois Hollande said Wednesday.
A battle group that includes the aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle will be deployed in the fall, Hollande said. France intensified its military campaign against ISIS following the terror attacks in Paris in November that killed 130 people.
"We have to strike back at and destroy those who attacked us here in January and November 2015," Hollande said.
Related: ISIS Numbers Drop, But Fighters Attacking Globally
In January of last year, gunmen attacked the office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris in the first target of a terror spree that killed 17.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the November attacks, and praised the January attacks. Another group, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, said it financed and planned the Charlie Hebdo attack.
France sent the aircraft carrier near the Syrian coast to carry out air strikes in November, following the attacks in Paris that targeted a stadium, bars and restaurants and a concert hall, the Bataclan.
Related: French Defend Decision Not to Warn Bataclan Despite Threats
ISIS has suffered recent setbacks in Iraq. Iraqi troops, supported by the U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, pushed the terror group from Fallujah in June following a more than month-long military operation.
ISIS still holds Mosul, which has been called its de-facto capital in Iraq. Iraqi forces retook an airbase about 40 miles south of the city on Saturday, the Iraqi joint operation command said.
Related: Month of Terror Shows ISIS' New Phase
Meanwhile, the U.S. said this week it would deploy an additional 560 troops to Iraq to provide infrastructure and logistical support at Qayara airfield.
ISIS has controlled Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, since June of 2014.
