French warplanes bombed ISIL group oil installations close to its Syrian stronghold of Raqa on Friday, as France’s defense minister visited the Jordanian air base where the jets took off.

French warplanes bombed ISIL group oil installations close to its Syrian stronghold of Raqa on Friday, as France's defense minister visited the Jordanian air base where the jets took off.

"I have been informed of the operations which took place overnight against oil sites. We must continue with this logic," Jean-Yves Le Drian said during a New Year trip to the base, where around 250 French personnel are deployed.

The first French strikes of 2016 were carried out by two Mirage 2000s around 2:00 am (0000 GMT), according to a military source on the base.

France is a key member of the US-led coalition that is carrying out air strikes on positions of the Takfiri group in Iraq and Syria.

The aerial campaign was stepped up after the deadly attacks claimed by ISIL in Paris in November last year.

France carried out more than 390 strikes against ISIL during 710 missions last year.