A French soldier has been killed and several wounded in an attack in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan, President Emmanuel Macron has confirmed, describing the attack as "unacceptable". It is France's first military death in the Middle East war, in which at least 2,000 people have been killed since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February.
Chief Warrant Officer Arnaud Frion "died for France during an attack in the Erbil region of Iraq", Macron posted on X (formerly Twitter) early on Friday.
Another six soldiers were injured, France's military police force later said in a statement.
Frion and his unit had been deployed in Iraq since 24 January as part of a counter-terrorism operation dating back to 2015, it said.
France has hundreds of troops based in the Erbil region as part of a broader international coalition to fight Islamic State militants in the area.
"This attack against our forces engaged in the fight against Daesh [Islamic State] since 2015 is unacceptable," Macron said. "The war in Iran cannot justify such attacks."
The president did not say who was behind the attack.
Earlier, a pro-Iranian Iraqi group warned that French interests in the region were now targets after the arrival of France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean.
The statement on Ashab Alkahf's Telegram channel also warned "our brothers in the security forces" to stay away from a base it said housed French troops.
The group did not directly claim responsibility for the attack.
Iran says European countries helped create conditions for US and Israeli attacks
Drone strikes
Frion was killed by one of Iran's Shahed drones, the commander of his battalion, François-Xavier de la Chesnais, told reporters. He paid tribute to "an excellent soldier".
Iran has been using the unmanned craft to strike Israel and other targets in countries allied with the United States.
The French military said earlier that drones had hit a base where troops were providing counter-terrorism training with Iraqi counterparts.
They are among around 600 French personnel based in Iraq. France has 4,000 troops in the region as a whole, spread across bases in Djibouti, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon.
The governor of Erbil said the strike involved two drones and hit a base in Mala Qara, around 40 kilometres from the regional capital.
Iraq's Erbil in the crossfire with drones and power cuts
Frion's death follows a separate drone strike on an Italian base in Erbil, within a military compound that was hosting other foreign troops.
No injuries were reported in that attack, but Italy said it was temporarily withdrawing its military personnel from the base.
Soldiers from several countries, including Italy and France, are training members of the Kurdish security forces in Iraqi Kurdistan as part of the anti-jihadist coalition led by Washington.
"Their presence in Iraq is strictly within the framework of the fight against terrorism," Macron posted on Friday.
France is deploying about a dozen warships, including its aircraft carrier strike group, to the Mediterranean, Red Sea and potentially the Strait of Hormuz.
Macron has insisted that his country's stance in the Middle East war is "strictly defensive".
(with newswires)
