Six French soldiers wounded in Iraqi Kurdistan drone strike
Drone attack injures French soldiers in Iraqi Kurdistan
A drone attack wounded six French soldiers in Erbil in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, the French military said late on Thursday.
The troops were "engaged in training activities on counterterrorism with Iraqi partners", a member of the general staff told AFP, adding the troops were taken to the nearest medical facility.
The governor of Erbil said the strike involved two drones and occurred at a base in Mala Qara, located around 40 kilometres from the regional capital.
Since the outbreak of the current war in the Middle East, multiple attacks attributed to pro-Iranian factions have targeted the region.
The attack that injured French solders follows a separate drone strike on an Italian base in Erbil, within a military compound that was hosting other foreign troops.
No one was injured in the first attack, after which Italy said it was temporarily withdrawing its military personnel from the base.
Soldiers from several countries, including Italy and France, are training members of the Kurdish security forces in Iraqi Kurdistan as part of an international anti-jihadist coalition led by Washington.
Since US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 triggered retaliatory attacks by Tehran across the Middle East and beyond, France's President Emmanuel Macron has insisted that his country's stance is "strictly defensive".
