French soldier killed in drone attack on base in Iraq’s Kurdistan region

A French soldier has been killed and several others wounded in a drone attack targeting a joint base in northern Iraq, President Emmanuel Macron said, describing the strike as unacceptable and unrelated to the wider conflict involving Iran.

The attack took place on March 12 in the Makhmour area near Erbil, in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region. According to French authorities, the base was shared by French forces and Kurdish Peshmerga units and was being used for training operations, Caliber.Az reports.

Macron said on X that Chief Warrant Officer Arnaud Frion of the 7th Battalion of Chasseurs Alpins from Varces was killed during the attack in the Erbil region. He expressed the nation’s solidarity with the soldier’s family and comrades, adding that several other French troops had been wounded and that France stood by them and their loved ones.

L’adjudant-chef Arnaud Frion du 7ème bataillon de chasseurs alpins de Varces est mort pour la France lors d’une attaque dans la région d’Erbil en Irak.

À sa famille, à ses frères d’armes, je veux dire toute l’affection et la solidarité de la Nation.

Plusieurs de nos militaires…

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) March 13, 2026

The French president said the attack targeted forces engaged in the fight against the Islamic State since 2015 and called it unacceptable.

"Their presence in Iraq is part of the strict framework of the fight against terrorism. The war in Iran cannot justify such attacks," he wrote on X. 

Earlier, the French military said the incident involved a drone strike on troops conducting a training exercise.

France currently maintains a military presence in Iraq as part of the US-led coalition against Islamic State. Amid rising tensions in the Middle East, Paris is also deploying around a dozen naval vessels, including its aircraft carrier strike group, to the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and potentially the Strait of Hormuz in what officials describe as defensive support to regional allies.

By Sabina Mammadli