France’s president Emmanuel Macron has condemned a drone attack in northern Iraq after a French soldier was killed and six others were injured.
Chief warrant officer Arnaud Frion died in the attack on Thursday, in what is thought to be the first European death since the US-Israeli war with Iran began two weeks ago.
“This attack against our forces engaged in the fight against Daesh (ISIS) since 2015 is unacceptable,” Macron said in a post on X, confirming the officer’s death.
“Their presence in Iraq is part of the strict framework of the fight against terrorism. The war in Iran cannot justify such attacks.”
The president said that several other soldiers were wounded by the attack and that “France stands by their side and with their loved ones”.
Governor Omed Koshnaw of the capital city of Iraqi Kurdistan, Erbil, confirmed that the drone attack took place in the Makhmour area.
The French troops are there to provide counter-terrorism training as part of an international coalition fighting against the Islamic State.
An Italian military base in the same region was also hit the same day, though with no reported injuries. The Italian defence ministry said the strike was a deliberate targeting of a facility hosting NATO personnel.
Iraqi Shi’ite militants have intensified their drone and missile attacks on US interests in Iraq over the last week.
The Ashab al-Kahf group has claimed responsibility for the deadly drone attack, stating it was a response to France sending its aircraft carrier to the region and said French assets in the area were legitimate targets.
The French government is due to hold a defence cabinet meeting later on Friday to discuss the situation and whether to respond, officials said.
France is deploying around 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 for allies.
The country currently has approximately 4,000 troops deployed in the Middle East spread across bases in Djibouti, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon.
The drone attacks on Thursday marked the latest escalations in the war, which continues to widen amid fears it is spiralling out of control.
British troops are also increasingly being drawn into the conflict, after shooting down two Iranian drones when their Iraq base came under attack. That followed a drone strike on RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.
Defence secretary John Healey this week also refused to rule out deploying British warships to the key shipping route the Strait of Hormuz, which has seen a series of attacks on tankers.
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