President Barzani, France’s Macron condemn ‘terrorist attack’ that killed French soldier in Erbil

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani and French President Emmanuel Macron “strongly condemned last night’s terrorist attack on Makhmour” during a phone call, after the strike killed a French soldier and wounded six others.

“I extend my sincere condolences to the family of the brave French soldier who sacrificed his life for peace in Kurdistan,” President Barzani said in a Facebook post.

Macron said early Friday that a French soldier was killed in Erbil following a drone attack targeting a joint Peshmerga-French military base, which also left several personnel injured. He described the strike as “unacceptable.”

“Chief Warrant Officer Arnaud Frion of the 7th Alpine Hunter Battalion of Varces died for France during an attack in the Erbil region of Iraq,” Macron wrote on X. “To his family and comrades-in-arms, I express all the affection and solidarity of the Nation.”

Several French soldiers were wounded late Thursday in the drone attack targeting the joint Kurdish military base about 60 kilometers southwest of Erbil.

During the phone call with Macron, President Barzani said it is “the responsibility of the Iraqi government to set limits on illegal groups.”

“We also stressed the importance of intensifying efforts to stop the war and turning to peaceful solutions for regional issues,” Barzani added.

Senior Peshmerga commander Sirwan Barzani told Rudaw late Thursday that seven French personnel were injured at the base, which hosts French military advisers and trainers who “have nothing to do with war and conflict and are only military advisers legally present in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.”

He described the attack as unlawful and called on Baghdad to take action.

Erbil Governor Omed Xoshnaw said Thursday that no Peshmerga personnel were harmed in the attack.

France maintains hundreds of troops in the Kurdistan Region, where its forces train Peshmerga fighters as part of the global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS).

The Kurdistan Region has endured nearly 300 drone and missile attacks since the start of Iran’s war with the US-Israel coalition on February 28.