2023-08-21 12:28:00
After the disappearance of Sergeant Baptiste Gauchot on Friday, Warrant Officer Nicolas Latourte also died during an “operational exercise” in Iraq on Sunday.
By HR with AFP A new French soldier died in the exercise of his mission. © JAAP ARRIENS / AFP Published on 08/21/2023 at 12:27 p.m. – Modified on 08/21/2023 at 12:56 p.m.
A French soldier was killed Sunday in Iraq “during an operational exercise” while taking part in an instruction mission for the Iraqi armed forces, the Elysee announced on Monday.
“Warrant Officer Nicolas Latourte”, of the 6th Engineer Regiment, “lost his life in the performance of his mission”, declared on X (formerly Twitter) President Emmanuel Macron, stressing that this death occurred a few days after that of Sergeant Baptiste Gauchot in a traffic accident, also in Iraq.
“The Nation is associated with the immense pain of their families and brothers in arms of the 19th and 6th engineer regiments”, added the Head of State.
In Iraq, they defended our ideals.
A few days after Sergeant Baptiste Gauchot, Warrant Officer Nicolas Latourte lost his life while carrying out his mission.
The Nation joins in the immense pain of their families and brothers in arms of the 19th and 6th engineer regiments.
—Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) August 21, 2023
600 soldiers deployed in Iraq
“He was on an Iraqi army training mission. To, tirelessly, fight against terrorism ”, underlined for his part the Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, in a message on X.
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No more ground operations have been carried out by the coalition since January 2022, the ministry’s website also specifies. Some 600 French soldiers are currently deployed there, according to the same source. The mission focuses on “military air and sea support to the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF)” as well as advising the Iraqi Armed Forces.
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