PARIS, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- France will deploy Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to back military operations against the Islamic State (IS), Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly announced on Friday.
Parly told local broadcaster Europe1 that the warship deployment "had been already planned" to pursue the combat against IS insurgents in Middle East, amid growing tensions in the region.
"France has been engaged in the fight against Daesh (Arabic acronym for IS) for five years... It's in this context that the aircraft carrier will be deployed," she said, stressing that the fight against the terrorist group "is decisive for the security of the Europeans."
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that the warship would be sent to Middle East to back Chammal operations (the French component of the anti-IS coalition) from January to April 2020 before deploying to the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea.
Charles de Gaulle, Europe's only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, would be used in joint operations with European countries, including Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Macron added.
The aircraft carrier, which can operate a fleet of up to 40 aircraft, was deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean in November 2015.
