French president pays homage to solider killed in anti-terror operation in Iraq

A French special forces soldier was killed and four soldiers injured during an anti-terrorist operation in Iraq, President Emmanuel Macron's office announced on Tuesday. It's the third French death in Operation Chammal this month.

A French soldier engaged in the "Operation Chammal", part of "Operation Inherent Resolve", the international coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group, in Iraq, 2019 (illustration). AFP - DAPHNE BENOIT

Sergeant Nicolas Mazier, an air force paratrooper, "died in combat while carrying out his mission", the Élysée presidential palace said in a statement. 

Macron expressed his condolences to Mazier’s loved ones and colleagues in a message posted on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Sergeant Nicolas Mazier was fighting for France, for our security. Fallen in Iraq, the whole nation mourns him,” said Macron.

Macron offered "sincere condolences to his family and loved ones and assure[d] them of the Nation's solidarity in these painful circumstances".

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He also expressed "his support to the men and women of his unit and in particular to Sergeant Mazier's comrades wounded at his side".

Ambush

France's chiefs of defence staff said in a statement that Mazier was mortally wounded and four more troops hurt during "a reconnaissance operation supporting Iraqi forces around 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Baghdad".

When the Iraqis were attacked by "a group of terrorists in fortified positions", the French "immediately responded to support their partners, inflicting serious losses on the enemy," the military headquarters added.

 An Iraqi security source in northeastern Kirkuk said that Iraqi and French troops were ambushed by Islamic State group jihadists late Monday in neighbouring Salah al-Din province.

The battle lasted "more than five hours" and saw three members of Iraq's anti-terrorist forces wounded as well as the French casualties, the source added.

Determination

Mazier is the third French soldier to be killed in Iraq in recent days, where the country's troops form part of Operation Inherent Resolve, a years-long campaign by an international coalition against the Islamic State group.

French military trainer Nicolas Latourte was "fatally injured on the sidelines of a training mission for urban combat", on 21 August alongside Iraqi troops, a French military said in a statement, without giving further details about the circumstances of the death.

A senior Iraqi military source told French news agency AFP on condition of anonymity that Latourte had been working with Kurdish forces in northern Iraq, and had died from a bullet wound sustained "as he was cleaning his weapon".

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Prior to this, Sergeant Baptiste Gauchot died in a road accident on 18 August.

Around 600 French troops are deployed in the region as part of Operation Chammal, the French military operation in Iraq and Syria against the IS group.

Macron saluted the courage of the French soldiers and "reaffirmed the determination of France in its fight against terrorism alongside Iraq".

(with AFP)