A French soldier was killed in an attack in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday, confirming the first French military death in the Middle East war.
Since US-Israeli strikes on Iran last month engulfed the Middle East in war, multiple attacks attributed to pro-Iranian factions have targeted the region where foreign forces are based as part of an international anti-jihadist coalition.
The member of the armed forces “died for France during an attack in the Erbil region of Iraq,” Macron posted on X, adding that several soldiers were also wounded. He did not say who was behind the attack.
“The war in Iran cannot justify such attacks,” Macron said, calling the strike “unacceptable”.
Following Macron’s announcement, a pro-Iranian group in Iraq warned Friday that French interests “in Iraq and the region” would be “under targeting fire” after the arrival of a French aircraft carrier.
Elsewhere, in western Iraq, an American KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft crashed while a second plane involved in the incident landed safely, the US military said Thursday.
“One of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely. This was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire,” US Central Command (CENTCOM), which is responsible for American forces in the Middle East, said in a statement.
Saudi forces down dozens of drones as wave of strikes hits region
The Israeli military said early Friday that Iran fired a new barrage of missiles toward Israel, with emergency services reporting that two were injured in the country’s north.
“A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the military posted on Telegram.
Iran has unleashed waves of drone and missile strikes against neighbouring states hosting US military assets, including Saudi Arabia, whose defence ministry said Friday that its forces had intercepted a total of 28 drones.
“Twelve drones were intercepted and destroyed after entering Saudi airspace,” a spokesperson for the defence ministry posted on X.
A wave of nine and then seven drones had also been shot down, they said in separate statements.
Saudi Arabia has been targeted by drones in recent days, with authorities confirming they had shot down several headed towards the crucial Shaybah oil field this week.
Iran has vowed to disrupt global energy markets in response to the US and Israeli strikes, which began at the end of last month, killing the Iranian supreme leader and plunging the Middle East into war.
Retaliatory Iranian missile strikes and drone attacks have brought shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global crude passes almost to a halt.
Oil prices stayed above the benchmark $100 a barrel after a record release of crude reserves and the International Energy Agency warned the war could create “the largest supply disruption” in the industry’s history.
Iranian media also reported fresh explosions in the capital Tehran, with the conflict showing no signs of slowing despite growing economic fears and the rising death toll.
Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, whose father and other family members were killed in the opening strikes of the war on February 28, — vowed Thursday to avenge the Iranian casualties in the conflict, according to a statement read by a presenter on state television.
Khamenei himself was wounded in the strikes, according to some Iranian officials and state TV. His whereabouts and details of his physical condition are unknown, prompting Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu to call on him to “show his face.”
US President Donald Trump told reporters the war against Iran was moving “very rapidly.”
“It’s doing very well, our military is unsurpassed,” he said at the White House, not directly responding to the latest comments from Iran’s new supreme leader.
Additional sources • AFP
