World News | A French Soldier is Killed in Clashes with Extremists in Iraq
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. A French soldier serving alongside Iraqi forces was killed in combat during a counterterrorism operation north of Baghdad, according to the French military.
Baghdad, Aug 29 (AP) A French soldier serving alongside Iraqi forces was killed in combat during a counterterrorism operation north of Baghdad, according to the French military.
Such losses among foreign forces in Iraq have been rare in recent years. Two Iraqi soldiers and four other French troops were also wounded in the operation, which an Iraqi official said was targeting a cell of the Islamic State group.
Sgt. Nicolas Mazier of parachute commando No. 10 was on a reconnaissance mission Monday with Iraqi forces about 100 kilometres north of Baghdad when a group of extremists attacked Iraqi forces, the French military said in a statement.
Mazier was wounded in the ensuing shootout and died in the hospital Tuesday, the statement said. Clashes continued until Tuesday morning.
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French forces were providing air support to the operation, which targeted an IS cell in the al-Aith area of Salahaddin province, said an Iraqi security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
IS was defeated and lost all territory it once controlled in Syria and Iraq, with its last stronghold in Syria falling to the US-backed campaign in 2019. However, sleeper cells remain and have carried out attacks that have killed scores of Iraqis and Syrians.
Rural areas of Kirkuk, Diyala, Ninevah and Salahaddin provinces in particular have been difficult to police, with Iraqi security forces spread thin and IS militants routinely terrorising residents. At times they have managed to overrun towns overnight due to the security gaps.
Mazier had been deployed since July in France's military operation in the region, called Chammal, to help train Iraqi anti-terrorism forces. In a tribute to Mazier, French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed "France's determination in its fight against terrorism at Iraq's side."
He was the third French soldier to die in Iraq this month, after one was fatally wounded during an urban combat training exercise, and another died in a traffic accident. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)