French soldier killed in Iraq road accident
A soldier from the French Foreign Legion oversees training of members of the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service to sweep for and dismantle improvised explosive devices (IEDs), in Baghdad International Airport on March 19, 2018. (File photo: Reuters)
A French soldier has been killed in a road accident in Iraq, where he was “taking part in a training mission for the Iraqi armed forces,” President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday.
Sergeant Baptiste Gauchot “was very seriously wounded when his vehicle went off the road,” France’s armed forces ministry said.
He received emergency surgery at Arbil hospital but died from his injuries, while a soldier he was with at the time is being treated in a Baghdad military hospital, the ministry said.
The French president “learned with deep emotion today of the death in Iraq in a traffic accident of Sergeant Baptiste Gauchot of the 19th Engineer Regiment,” the Elysee Palace said.
It said Macron “reaffirmed his support for the Iraqi people and authorities and France’s determination to continue working alongside them to train their security forces in the fight against terrorism.”