France has suffered its first fatality in the war in the Middle East.
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron insisted Friday that France’s role in the Middle East would remain defensive after a French soldier was killed in a drone attack in Iraq.
“France’s position is purely defensive, in support of its allies, and can in no way justify any attack against it,” Macron said in a press conference standing alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was in Paris to discuss support for Kyiv.
Overnight Thursday into Friday, a French soldier was killed and several others were wounded in a strike on troops participating in a counterterrorism training exercise in northern Iraq.
Macron has linked the attack to the war in the Middle East but declined to assign blame for the killing. Instead he said he would remain “prudent,” wait to speak to the Iraqi prime minister and receive more details from the France’s own armed forces.
The incident, however, comes as a pro-Iranian armed group called Ashab Al-Kahf announced on Friday that it would target “all French interests in Iraq and the region,” according to French media reports.
Amid the rising tensions in the region, Macron said that France would remain “calm, composed and determined” and continue to “be reliable with our allies, protect our citizens and defend our interests and our security.”
The French president also called the attack “unacceptable,” adding that the soldiers were in Iraq as part of an ongoing effort against the Islamic State group.
Macron last week said the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle was being deployed to the Mediterranean along with fighter jets and air defense systems to protect French interests in the Middle East.