A third French soldier has died in Iraq in a span of less than two weeks. The French government announced on Tuesday that Sergeant Nicolas Mazier, a member of the French Special Forces who belonged to the Airborne Parachute Commando No. 10 (CPA 10) – an air and space force unit based in Orléans (central France) – was killed in a terrorist attack in Iraq on Monday, August 28.
In accordance with standard practice, details of the circumstances surrounding his death were kept to a minimum. According to the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, the attack occurred during a reconnaissance operation some 100 km north of Baghdad when a group of jihadists targeted the Iraqi forces and the French commando, who were working together. Four other French soldiers were wounded during the fighting. The ambush, led by the Islamic State (IS) group, took place on an island on the Tigris named Al-Aith, according to Iraqi media reports.
This ambush comes at a time when two other French soldiers have died in recent days in Iraq, although both of those cases were officially accidents. Sergeant Baptiste Gauchot, from the 19th Engineers Regiment, died on August 18 when his vehicle ran off the road. Warrant Officer Nicolas Latourte, from the 6th Engineers Regiment, lost his life on August 20 during training.
Maintaining support in the Middle East
Sergeant Mazier’s death is the first in combat for French forces since January 2022, when a brigadier from the 54th Hyère artillery regiment lost his life in a mortar attack on a military camp as part of “Operation Barkhane” in Mali. His is also the first death among members of the Special Forces since the loss of two soldiers from the Hubert commando in Burkina Faso in 2019, during a hostage rescue operation.
The latest three deaths come against a backdrop of renewed military cooperation between France and Iraq. France has been engaged in the Iraqi-Syrian zone for many years, particularly since the launch of “Operation Chammal” in 2014, which involves around 600 soldiers (excluding special forces attached to “Task Force Hydra,” whose numbers are not public). “Chammal” includes both a training component (mainly Kurdish and Iraqi forces) and an air support component for the US-led international coalition Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR).
For several months now, Paris has been seeking to reactivate its bilateral relationship with Baghdad. Immediately following the passage of the military planning law in Parliament, armed forces minister Sébastien Lecornu embarked on his first overseas trip in several months, visiting Qatar and Iraq from July 16 to 20. The minister’s entourage was eager to emphasize the significance of this journey, framing it as an opportunity to “zoom out” of Ukraine, according to an advisor’s expression. France aims to maintain its backing in the Middle East, which it considers a pivotal security concern.
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