A French soldier was killed in an attack in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). Other military personnel were injured in the attack in Hewlêr (Erbil), French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday. The soldier “died for France in an attack in the Erbil region of Iraq,” Macron wrote on X. He did not specify who was behind the attack.
The French military had earlier stated that drones struck a base where troops were taking part in an anti-terror exercise together with local forces. The governor of Hewlêr said that two drones were involved in the attack and that the base in Mala Qara, about 40 kilometers southwest of Hewlêr, was hit.
Earlier, a pro-Iranian group had warned that French interests in the region would now become targets after a French aircraft carrier arrived in “the operational area of the U.S. Central Command.” In a statement on the Telegram channel of the Shiite militia Ashab Al-Kahf, “our brothers in the security forces” were also warned to stay away from a base where French troops were allegedly present. The group did not directly claim responsibility for the attack.
The death of the French soldier follows a separate drone attack on an Italian base in Hewlêr, located within a military compound where other foreign troops are also stationed. No injuries were reported in that attack, but Italy said it would temporarily withdraw its military personnel from the base.
Since the U.S.–Israeli attacks on Iran at the end of February plunged the Middle East into war, there have been numerous drone and rocket attacks attributed to Iran-aligned groups in Iraq and South Kurdistan targeting areas where foreign troops are stationed as part of the international anti-ISIS coalition.
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