A French soldier has been killed and several others injured in a drone attack on troops in the Erbil region of Iraqi Kurdistan, French President Emmanuel Macron has confirmed.
A member of the armed forces "died for France during the attack in the Erbil region of Iraq," Macron wrote on the social network X.
This is also the first casualty among French soldiers in the Middle East since the start of the new conflict that escalated late last month after the United States and Israel carried out attacks on Iran.
Macron added that several other soldiers were injured in the incident. Earlier, the French military had announced that six soldiers were injured on Thursday in a drone attack while conducting training.
"Non-commissioned officer Arnaud Frion from the 7th Alpine Hunters Battalion from Varces died for France during an attack in the Erbil region of Iraq. To his family, as well as to his brothers in arms, I would like to express my deepest condolences and the solidarity of the nation. Several of our soldiers have been injured. France stands by them and their families. This attack on our forces, which have been engaged in the fight against ISIS since 2015, is unacceptable. Their presence in Iraq is taking place within the strict framework of the fight against terrorism. The war in Iran cannot justify such attacks," Macron said.
The soldiers were "engaged in counter-terrorism training activities with Iraqi partners," a member of the general staff told AFP, adding that the wounded troops were immediately taken to the nearest medical facility.
The governor of Erbil explained that two drones participated in the attack and that the incident occurred at a base in the Mala Qara area, about 40 kilometers from the capital of this autonomous region.
Since the outbreak of the current war in the Middle East, there have been several attacks in the region attributed to pro-Iranian factions. The attack on French troops came after another drone strike on an Italian base in Erbil, inside a military complex housing other foreign troops.
There were no injuries in that first attack, but Italy subsequently announced the temporary withdrawal of its military personnel from the base.
Soldiers from several countries, including Italy and France, train Kurdish security forces in Iraqi Kurdistan as part of the international coalition against the jihadists led by Washington.
After US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28 sparked retaliatory counterattacks by Tehran across the Middle East and beyond, Macron stressed that France's military posture in the region is "strictly defensive." /Telegraph/
