France, March 14 -- Macron published a message in French and Arabic on social media platform X on Saturday, saying he had spoken directly to Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

"I thank him for his commitment to getting to the bottom of this attack and to strengthening measures to protect our forces, who are present in Iraq to fight, alongside the Iraqis, against the scourge of terrorism," Macron wrote.

Arnaud Frion, 42, was killed and six other French soldiers were wounded on Thursday evening in a drone attack in the Erbil region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

He is the first French soldier to die since the start of the war in the Middle East two weeks ago.

French soldier killed in Iraq as pro-Iran group vows to hit France's int...