One French soldier killed, six wounded in Iraq drone attack
PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative file photo — A French service member is seen observing an Iraqi Special Operation Force (ISOF) Counter Terrorism School (CTS) student on during training in Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 31, 2018. (Coalition photo by Staff Sgt. Eli Velazquez via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS))
BAGHDAD/PARIS - One French soldier was killed and six others were wounded after a drone attack in northern Iraq that President Emmanuel Macron said was unacceptable and unjustified.
The soldiers were providing counterterrorism training in the region as part of an international coalition fighting Islamic State and were struck on Thursday just hours after an Italian base was also targeted in the area.
The dead officer was named as Arnaud Frion.
"This attack against our forces engaged in the fight against Daesh (ISIS) since 2015 is unacceptable," Macron said in an X post overnight, confirming the death of one officer.
"Their presence in Iraq is strictly within the framework of the fight against terrorism. The war in Iran cannot justify such attacks," added Macron.
The attack is the latest sign of an escalation in the region 13 days since the United States and Israel launched air strikes against Iran, triggering a response from Tehran that has targeted countries across the region.
FRANCE HAS ABOUT 4,000 TROOPS IN REGION
Iraqi Shi'ite militants have picked up the pace of drone and missile attacks on U.S. interests in Iraq in the last three to four days, according to three Iraqi security sources and two sources close to the groups.
One group, Ashab al-Kahf, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was a response to France sending its aircraft carrier to the region and said French assets in the region were legitimate targets. The French government will hold a defence cabinet meeting later on Friday to discuss the situation and whether to riposte, officials said.
Erbil Governor Omed Koshnaw said in a statement that the drone attack was in the Makhmour area.
An overnight airstrike that hit an Italian military base in Iraqi Kurdistan was deliberate, the Italian defence ministry said earlier on Thursday, targeting a facility hosting NATO personnel.
France is deploying about a dozen naval vessels, including its aircraft carrier strike group, to the Mediterranean, Red Sea and potentially the Strait of Hormuz as part of defensive support to allies threatened by the conflict in the Middle East.
It has about 4,000 troops in the region, spread across bases in Djibouti, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon.
The leaders of Iran, Israel and the U.S. all voiced defiance and vowed to fight on as the war approached the two-week mark on Friday, killing thousands of people, disrupting the lives of millions of others and shaking financial markets.
(Reporting by John Irish, Ahmed Rasheed and Mrinmay Dey; Editing by David Gregorio, Michael Perry, William Maclean // REUTERS // Headline revised by Paul Garraty (OAF Nation))
