A French soldier has been killed, and several others wounded in a drone attack in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, marking France’s first military fatality since the start of the current war in the Middle East.
President Emmanuel Macron identified the dead serviceman as Chief Warrant Officer Arnaud Frion and condemned the strike as “unacceptable”. According to French authorities and multiple media outlets, five other French soldiers were injured.
French soldiers deployed in Operation Chammal
Paris has moved quickly to distance the strike from any suggestion that its forces in Iraq are directly involved in the war against Iran.
The attack took place in the Erbil region, where French troops have been deployed as part of the international coalition against ISIS. The targeted site was a joint Peshmerga-French base in the Makhmour area. French troops in the area were described as taking part in counter-terrorism training missions.
BREAKING: Iranian kamikaze drones hit a French military base near Erbil Airport in northern Iraq, wounding six French soldiers. pic.twitter.com/VK8FegTkS8
— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 12, 2026
In a message published overnight, Macron said that French troops have been engaged in the fight against ISIS in Iraq since 2015 and stressed that their presence remains strictly tied to counterterrorism.
France’s Ministry of the Armed Forces describes Operation Chammal as the French component of Operation Inherent Resolve, supporting Iraqi forces against ISIS while also conducting advisory and training missions.
Drone origin unconfirmed
The Alpine Chasseurs regiment to which the soldiers belonged said the attack was carried out using a Shahed drone. It was not immediately clear where the drone had come from.
Le Monde reported that the pro-Iran armed group Ashab Al-Kahf had claimed responsibility for the strike and later threatened to target “all French interests” in Iraq and across the region, linking its threat to France’s recent military moves in support of regional allies.
The incident also came hours after a separate drone strike hit an Italian military facility in Iraqi Kurdistan without causing casualties, highlighting a broader pattern of pressure on coalition-linked sites in the country.
France is deploying about a dozen naval vessels, including its carrier strike group, to the Eastern Mediterranean, the Red Sea and potentially the Strait of Hormuz, as part of what it has described as defensive support to allies threatened by the conflict.
