Middle East
the Ashab al-Kahf militia, a shadowy group operating under the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) entity, logo. Graphic: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A shadowy Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group on Friday announced that French interests in Iraq and across the region would be “under targeting fire,” following the arrival of a French aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle, to the region. The statement came as French President Emmanuel Macron announced the death of a French soldier and the injury of several others in an attack in the Kurdistan Region.
In a statement shared on its Telegram channel, the Ashab al-Kahf militia, a shadowy group operating under the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) entity, said that “following the arrival of the French aircraft carrier in the operational area of United States Central Command [CENTCOM] and its involvement in [military] operations, we announce from tonight that all French interests in Iraq and the region will be under targeting fire.”
The French president last week said he had ordered Paris’ aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, along with its air assets and frigate escort, to set course for the Mediterranean. “We have economic interests to protect, and with oil prices, gas prices, and international trade deeply disrupted by this war, we are taking the initiative to build a coalition,” Macron then said.
Ashab al-Kahf added, “We call on our brothers to stay at least 500 meters away from the area containing the French force at K1 [Air] Base to ensure their safety.”
The K1 Air Base is located around 15 kilometers northwest of the city of Kirkuk, where French forces maintain a presence as part of the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat the Islamic State (ISIS).
Ashab al-Kahf is a shadowy armed group that emerged in 2019 and has claimed several attacks on US interests in Iraq, including the American embassy in Baghdad. More recently, the group has claimed responsibility for attacks on alleged US targets in the Kurdistan Region, framing them as part of the response to the ongoing US-Israeli campaign against Iran that began on February 28 with the stated aim of dismantling Tehran’s security structure.
The threat against French interests came as Macron announced early Friday that a French soldier had been killed in Erbil following a drone attack targeting a joint Peshmerga-French military base that also left several personnel injured, describing 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 in Iraq,” Macron said in a post on X, adding that “this attack against our forces, who have been engaged in the fight against ISIS since 2015, is unacceptable.”
“The war in Iran cannot justify such attacks,” the French leader underlined.
In addition to Frion’s death, several French soldiers were injured late Thursday in the drone attack targeting a joint Kurdish military base about 60 kilometers southwest of Erbil.
Senior Peshmerga commander Sirwan Barzani told Rudaw late Thursday that seven French personnel were injured at the base, which hosts French military advisors who “have nothing to do with war and conflict and are only military advisors who are legally in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.”
Of note, Ashab al-Kahf did not claim responsibility for the latter attack.
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