French soldier killed in attack in Iraq: Macron

A French soldier was killed in an attack in Erbil province in Iraq's northern semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, President Emmanuel Macron said Friday, reported Xinhua.

The soldier, a member of the French armed forces, "died for France during an attack in the Erbil region of Iraq," Macron said in a post on X, adding that several other soldiers were wounded in the incident.

It was the first French military death in the Middle East conflict that began late last month when Israel and the United States struck Iran, AFP reported.

The French army said Thursday that six French soldiers providing counter-terrorism training in northern Iraq were wounded in a drone attack in the Erbil region, just hours after an Italian base in the area was targeted, Reuters reported.

Macron said, "The war in Iran cannot justify such attacks."

France has hundreds of troops based in the Erbil region as part of a broader international coalition fighting Islamic State militants in the area.