Three soldiers fallen in one month in Iraq. The French presidency announced on Tuesday the death of Nicolas Mazier, an air paratrooper commando No. 10 killed Monday during an anti-jihadist operation in support of the Iraqi army. This is the first death of a French soldier in combat, the other two being attributed to accidents.
According to an Iraqi security source in Kirkuk, a joint operation “Iraqi anti-terrorist forces and soldiers from the French forces stationed in Kirkuk were ambushed” by the Islamic State (IS). In fact, France is therefore present in Iraq. Emmanuel Macron has also reaffirmed the French will to continue “the fight against Daesh”. What are the missions of the tricolor army in Iraq?
Formation of Kurdish forces
It is to fight against jihadist terrorist groups, and particularly IS, that France is sending its army to Iraq. About 600 French soldiers are indeed deployed in the region as part of Operation Chammal launched in 2014, which includes a training component for Iraqi forces. A cooperation that will also be strengthened as recorded during the Julytist visit of Minister Sébastien Lecornu on the spot.
“Now we have a bilateral roadmap to strengthen and consolidate,” he added, referring to “a unique training cycle to come, which we call ‘desert battalion'”. The two-year training will involve 80 French trainers who will take turns “to train the equivalent of five battalions, that is to say 2,100 Iraqi soldiers”, detailed the French minister. It should begin in October and be spread over approximately two years, specifies The world. The initiative “is very similar to the various training courses that we are currently carrying out in Poland, for Ukrainian soldiers”, underlined Sébastien Lecornu. In addition, French special forces are present as part of Task Force Hydra.
International Coalition against the Islamic State
Operation Chammal also includes air support for the US-led counterterrorism coalition, launched in 2014 to fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. “We discussed the presence of French troops within the framework of the international coalition and their important role in the fight against terrorism and the cells” of the IS, thus explained in July Sébastien Lecornu praising the “decisive work” French armed forces in Iraq, alongside the Iraqi army and “other partners, including the American partner”.
military equipment
“Our objective is to help Iraq become a sovereign country”, detailed, in July, the office of Minister Sébastien Lecornu, quoted in the columns of the World. This is why the two ministers discussed armament, in particular in connection with “the security of the airspace” of Iraq, according to the tenant of the Quai d’Orsay. He also mentioned “the discussions” carried out by Baghdad with the French group Thales: “things are already progressing well, in particular around the GM400 radar and the discussions will continue on other equipment, other radars”.
In January, during his visit to Paris, the Iraqi Prime Minister indeed met representatives of the French groups Thales and Dassault, but also of the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, to discuss a potential acquisition by Baghdad of radars, planes Rafale combat vehicles or military helicopters. In May, for the first time in a very long time, the Iraqi and French air forces held a joint exercise in Iraq in which Rafales took part.