Paris, Apr 18 (EFE). – French President Emmanuel Macron announced Saturday that a French soldier serving with the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was killed and three others wounded in an attack in southern Lebanon, which France attributes to Hezbollah.
“Everything suggests that responsibility for this attack lies with Hezbollah. France demands that the Lebanese authorities immediately arrest the perpetrators and take their responsibilities alongside UNIFIL,” Macron wrote on social media.
France’s Defence Minister, Catherine Vautrin, said the soldier “was caught in an ambush by an armed group at very close range.”
“Struck immediately by direct fire from a light weapon, he was pulled back under fire by his comrades, who were unable to revive him,” the minister added, paying tribute and assuring that “France will not forget.”
The soldier was identified as Sergeant Florian Montorio of the 17th Parachute Regiment of Montauban.
He had served in the army for 18 years and was committed “with strength and determination to serve his country, to defend peace, to combat terrorism, to protect his fellow citizens,” Vautrin said.
Macron added that the three wounded soldiers had been evacuated.
He also held a phone call with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who, according to media reports, expressed condolences, condemned the attack, and rejected all violence against UNIFIL forces.
France has maintained a military presence in southern Lebanon since 2006 as part of the UN peacekeeping mission acting as a buffer between Hezbollah and Israel.
This marks the second French soldier killed in the region since the escalation of tensions following Israeli and US attacks on Iran.
A month ago, Warrant Officer Arnaud Frion, 42, died in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, near Erbil, in a drone attack that Macron attributed to a pro-Iranian militia. EFE
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