Iranian-backed militias in Iraq were likely behind a drone attack that killed a French soldier who was serving alongside Kurdish Peshmerga in the Kurdistan Region of Northern Iraq.
The French, along with the US, Italians, and others, have been supporting Iraqi forces and the Peshmerga against ISIS over the last decade.
Iranian-backed militias and Iran have been targeting the Kurdistan Region with drones and missiles since the US and Israel began attacks on Iran. In addition, over the last several years, Iranian-backed militias have often targeted the Kurdistan region, threatening US forces and the Kurds.
Iraq has long appeased the militias. In fact, Iraq has let the Iranian-backed militias become integrated within the Iraqi security forces as a paramilitary force. This means that these militias operate within state control and also carry out illegal attacks.
The Kurdish Rudaw media noted that “Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani on Friday pledged to launch an investigation into a drone attack on a joint French-Peshmerga base near Erbil that killed a French soldier and wounded six others, during a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron.”
Iraq’s prime minister claimed that Baghdad would conduct an investigation. He said that “the necessary measures will be taken to prevent a recurrence of such targeting.” This comes after around 300 similar types of drone and missile attacks.
French President Macron said that the soldier was killed on Friday. He was killed by a drone that struck a joint Peshmerga-French military base.
The Peshmerga are the armed forces of the autonomous Kurdistan Region. “Chief Warrant Officer Arnaud Frion of the 7th Alpine Hunter Battalion of Varces died for France during an attack in the Erbil region of Iraq…To his family and comrades-in-arms, I express all the affection and solidarity of the Nation,” Macron wrote on social media platform X.
Further attacks by Iran-backed Iraqi militias
The Iranian-backed militias have also targeted Italian forces in Iraq, as well as Americans. Many drone attacks have targeted Erbil International Airport, and the militias have also targeted hotels where Americans are alleged to be staying.
The US Embassy has put out the following warning in Baghdad: “Iran and the terrorist militia groups aligned with it continue to pose a serious threat to public safety. American citizens are urged to exercise extreme caution, maintain a low profile, and avoid areas where they may become a target. Gathering in places associated with the United States or with groups of other American citizens may put you at risk. Attacks have occurred against American citizens and interests in Iraq, and Americans face a risk of kidnapping. American companies, hotels frequented by foreigners, and other facilities in Iraq, including those associated with the United States, have been targeted in attacks. Critical infrastructure sites throughout Iraq have also been targeted in attacks.”
The Kurdish commander of the Makhmour-Gwer sector, Sirwan Barzani, has spoken about the drone attack that killed the French soldier. Barzani, a well-known commander who has played a key role on this frontline near Makmour since the days of the war on ISIS, called the attack shocking.
“Barzani visited the site of the strike following the incident,” Rudaw noted. “It is deeply shocking that such an atrocity would be carried out at a time when both the French forces and the Peshmerga have stood alongside the Iraqi Army in the fight against ISIS, working for the stability and security of all of Iraq,” Barzani wrote on Facebook.
A militia group calling itself Ashab al-Kahf has claimed that it may carry out more attacks on French forces. It claims that this is linked to France sending its aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, to the region. Ashab al-Kahf wrote on Telegram that it is part of the larger umbrella group, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI).
It says that “following the arrival of the French aircraft carrier in the operational area of United States Central Command and its involvement in [military] operations, we announce from tonight that all French interests in Iraq and the region will be under targeting fire.”
The IRI is one of the names that the Iranian-backed militias have adopted during their operations against the US, Israel, and others. Many of these militias are also part of the Popular Mobilization Forces, which is an official Iraqi paramilitary group. Iran creates cutout names for the groups it carries out attacks with, like rebranding one mafia as another.
The reason Iran does this is to distance the official PMF forces from the attacks so that random new “groups” will be said to be responsible, rather than the more well-known Iranian nexus of militias.
These well-known militias, many of them already sanctioned as terrorists by the US, include Kataib Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Harakat Hezbollah, Kataib Imam Ali, and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada. Badr, one of the largest of the militias in the PMF, has not been sanctioned by the US.