A French military trainer was killed in Iraq on Sunday, August 21, during an exercise, the French presidency said. Named as Nicolas Latourte, the soldier "lost his life while accomplishing his mission," President Emmanuel Macron's office wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The presidency said Latourte was killed during an "operational exercise" as part of a mission to instruct Iraqi troops. "In the evening, Adjutant Latourte was fatally wounded on the sidelines of an urban combat training exercise," said the Ministry of the Armed Forces. "He was immediately taken care of and transferred by helicopter to a military hospital in Erbil, where the medical team pronounced him dead."
His death followed that of another French soldier who was killed a few days ago in a road accident in Iraq. France has around 600 troops taking part in what it calls Operation Chammal in Iraq aimed at bolstering the Iraqi national forces and fighting against the Islamic State extremist group.