A French soldier was killed in an attack in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, marking the first French military death in the ongoing Middle East conflict, President Emmanuel Macron confirmed on Friday, March 13th.
Several other French soldiers were also wounded during the incident.
The attack comes amid escalating regional tensions following last month’s U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, which have triggered a wave of retaliatory attacks by Iran. French forces, along with other international troops, are deployed in Iraqi Kurdistan as part of an anti-jihadist coalition led by Washington, providing training and support to local security forces.
Macron described the strike as “unacceptable,” emphasizing that France’s military presence in the region is strictly defensive. The president also highlighted that the fallen soldier “died for France during an attack in the Erbil region.”
The French military reported that drones targeted a base in Mala Qara, approximately 40 kilometers from the regional capital, where troops were conducting counter-terrorism training alongside Iraqi counterparts. Six personnel were injured in the strike, although it is unclear whether the soldier who died was counted among them.
Earlier, a pro-Iranian Iraqi group warned that French interests in the region could become targets following the arrival of a French aircraft carrier near American Central Command operations.
The attack follows a similar drone strike on an Italian base in Erbil, which resulted in no casualties but prompted Italy to temporarily withdraw some of its military personnel.
