The French President, Emmanuel Macron, announced the death of a French soldier and the injury of another in a traffic accident in Iraq, as “they were participating in a training mission for the Iraqi armed forces.”
A statement by the French presidency stated that Macron “learned today with great sadness the death of Sergeant Baptiste Gaucho of the 19th Engineers Regiment in Iraq.”
He added, “The head of state confirms his support for the Iraqi people and the Iraqi authorities, and France’s determination to continue working alongside them to train their security forces that combat terrorism.
For its part, the French Ministry of Defense stated that the sergeant, “accompanied by a second soldier, was seriously injured when their vehicle deviated from the road.” It added, “The sergeant died of his wounds after emergency surgery in Erbil Hospital, while his seriously injured companion is receiving medical care in a military hospital in Baghdad.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency