a second French soldier who died in Iraq

Warrant Officer Nicolas Latourte died during an “operational exercise” in Iraq, Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday August 21. The Presidency paid tribute to the soldier as well as to another French soldier who died on mission.

A French soldier died in Iraq. The Presidency itself announced the death of Warrant Officer Nicolas Latourte, a member of the 6th Engineer Regiment of Angers in a communicated this Monday, August 21, 2023. The soldier had been deployed in Iraq since May 21, 2023 and was taking part in “a partnership mission to instruct the Iraqi armed forces”. It was during an “operational exercise” that the man was killed, said the Ministry of the Army. Which indicates that Warrant Officer Latourte “was mortally wounded on the sidelines of a combat training exercise in an urban area”. The soldier succumbed to his injuries despite being treated and transferred to the military hospital in Erbil.

Like many other French soldiers, Warrant Officer Nicolas Latourte “contributed to the training of our Iraqi partners in the field of the fight against improvised explosive devices” and more broadly in the fight “against terrorism” underlined the Ministry of the Armed Forces and its leaderSebastien Lecornu.

Two dead soldiers in Iraq

The death of Warrant Officer Nicolas Latourte occurs only a few days after the death of Sergeant Baptiste Gauchot also engaged in Iraq. The soldier was part of the 19th engineer regiment and died on Friday August 18 during a road accident in the field. Both men lost their lives “in the performance of [leur] mission” underlined Emmanuel Macron on the social network X, formerly Twitter.

The President of the Republic had a thought for these soldiers who “defended our ideals” in Iraq and assures that “the Nation is associated with the immense pain of their families and brothers in arms of the 19th and 6th engineer regiments”.