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President François Hollande said on Monday that reconnaissance flights would try to locate training and operational bases of Islamic State militants.Credit Philippe Wojazer/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

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PARIS — France will start sending reconnaissance flights over Syria and is considering airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syrian territory, President François Hollande said on Monday, expanding its campaign against the militant group.

The French president tied his announcement to two growing sources of concern for the authorities in France and in other European countries: the threat of attacks by Islamist militants radicalized directly in Syria or indirectly by contacts there, and the mounting crisis that has seen thousands of Syrians make their way to the Continent in search of safety.

France joined a coalition of countries led by the United States conducting airstrikes against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, last September, but it has limited its participation to Iraq, out of a fear of bolstering the position of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

“Depending on the information that we will have gathered, the intelligence that we will have collected, and the reconnaissance that we will have done, we will be ready to conduct airstrikes,” Mr. Hollande said at a news conference in Paris.

Mr. Hollande said that sending French troops to Syria was “unrealistic” and “reckless,” and he ruled out ordering any ground forces either to Syria or to Iraq, where he said France had already conducted 200 airstrikes.

Mr. Hollande said that the reconnaissance flights would be coordinated with France’s coalition partners and that they would seek to determine the locations of Islamic State training and command centers.

“What we want to know is what is being prepared against us and what is being done against the Syrian population,” Mr. Hollande said.

Mr. Hollande pointed to the Islamic State’s role in the migration crisis in Europe in explaining the decision to expand operations in Syria.

“It is Daesh that is pushing thousands of families to flee because of the massacres it is committing,” Mr. Hollande said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. “And it is from Syria — we have proof — that attacks are organized against several countries, most notably ours.”

He said France was committed to finding a political solution to end the conflict in Syria, but he added that Mr. Assad’s departure from power was a necessary condition.

Asked about reports that Russia was bolstering military support for Mr. Assad’s government, Mr. Hollande said that Russia was also committed to a political solution and that although Moscow was an ally of Syria’s, it would not offer unwavering support to Mr. Assad himself.