France has announced that it will intensify the airstrikes it is conducting against Islamic State (ISIS) targets in Syria, three times as many as they are now, following the arrival of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, reports said.
French diplomats said this is in compliance with the UN Security Council resolution approved Friday night which authorises member countries to combat terrorist groups like the ISIS "by all means" in all territory they control.
The approved resolution does not provide any legal basis for military action and does not invoke Chapter Seven of the U.N. charter that authorises the use of force.
The French diplomats lauded the U.N. Security Council action, saying it will provide important international political support to the anti-ISIS campaign that has been ramped up since the attacks in Paris.
"This text is a call for international mobilisation,'' according to Francois Delattre, France's ambassador to the U.N.
British Prime Minister David Cameron called the resolution an "important moment."
"We cannot expect others to shoulder burdens and risks of protecting this country," he was quoted in the Telegraph.
His foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, believes that the move only showed "the unity of the Security Council in working to defeat ISIS."
Earlier, Russia revived its push for U.N. approval of international military campaigns combating ISIS by circulating a slightly updated version of a draft resolution it initially submitted on Sept. 30 which urged countries to coordinate military activities with Assad government and has been dismissed by veto-power wielder Britain and other members.
Russia, who views Syria its closest ally, has been at odds with Western powers over the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
U.N. Security Council Resolution 2249, drafted by France, was adopted by the 15-member council via a unanimous decision, according to the Guardian.
"The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant constitutes a global and unprecedented threat to international peace and security,'' said the resolution. "Member countries that have the capability must take all necessary measures...on territory under their control.''
The council resolution also urges states "to intensify efforts to stem the flow of foreigners looking to fight with ISIS and Syria and to prevent and suppress financing of terrorism."
ISIS used the chaos in Syria's for nearly five years of civil war to seize territory. A U.S.-led coalition has been bombing the militants for more than a year while Russia began airstrikes in Syria in September.
The group recently claimed responsibility for the downing of a Russian passenger jet, killing all 224 people on board, and attacks in Lebanon, Turkey and Tunisia.
ISIS also admitted responsibility for the terror attacks in Paris that killed at least 130 people and wounded 368 others.
