Macron: Iran war cannot justify attack on French troops fighting ISIS
Shafaq News- Paris
French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday denounced the attack in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region that killed a French soldier and wounded several others as “unacceptable,” reaffirming Paris’s commitment to the fight against ISIS.
In a statement on X, Macron stressed that French troops have been deployed in Iraq since 2015 as part of the Global Coalition against ISIS, describing their presence as “strictly within the framework of the fight against terrorism.”
“The war in Iran cannot justify such attacks,” he added.
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
A local source told Shafaq News on Thursday that a two-drone strike targeted a joint base used by Kurdish Peshmerga forces and French troops in the Kurdish capital, wounding six French soldiers.
The Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), a US-based monitoring organization, reported 196 missile and drone attacks on the Kurdistan Region since February 28, when Israel and the United States launched attacks against Iran. The group attributed the attacks to Iran and affiliated armed groups, saying they killed four people and wounded 19 others.
Read more: Between war and neutrality: Kurdistan navigates US-Iran confrontation
