French soldier killed, several wounded in Iraq attack, Macron confirms

A French soldier was killed and several others were wounded in an attack on a counterterrorism training exercise in northern Iraq, French President Emmanuel Macron said early Friday.

“Chief Warrant Officer Arnaud Frion of the 7th Chasseurs Alpins Battalion in Varces died for France during an attack in the Erbil region of Iraq,” Macron posted on X, confirming the first French fatality of the Middle East war that began with the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran last month.

The French president called the attack “unacceptable,” adding that the soldiers were in Iraq as part of an ongoing effort against the Islamic State.

“Their presence in Iraq is part of the strict framework of the fight against terrorism,” Macron said. “The war in Iran cannot justify such attacks.”

The French military command had earlier said that six soldiers involved in providing counterterrorism training in Iraq had been wounded in a drone strike in Kurdistan’s Erbil region and taken for medical treatment. It did not provide details of the drone’s origins.

An Italian base in Erbil was targeted by a drone strike Thursday but no casualties were reported as a result of that attack.