Dempsey lauds French airstrike against militants
By ROBERT BURNS, Associated Press
Sep 19, 2014 9:56 AM CDT
In this Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014 photo, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Speaking to a small group of reporters after meeting with his French counterpart on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014 in...   (Associated Press)

CAEN, France (AP) — The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff says the U.S. appreciates France's airstrike against Islamic State militants.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, who was in France on Friday, said the French hit a target north of the Iraqi city of Mosul, Iraq. Dempsey was not more specific.

Dempsey said the strike happened while he was visiting the D-Day landing beaches and American military cemetery at Normandy with his French counterpart, Gen. Pierre de Villiers, who informed him of the attack.

Dempsey told reporters traveling with him that "the French were our very first ally and they're with us again now."

France said it conducted its first airstrike against the Islamic State group destroyed a logistics depot that the militants controlled.