Arabic → English transcript

Yes, Mohamed,

the French authorities say that Officer Arnaud Fromentin, who was killed,

and his five colleagues who were wounded at the Makhmour base, 60 kilometers

south of Erbil, belong to a French special force that is on a

mission to train the Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi forces in

fighting the Islamic State group, or the remnants of

the Islamic State group in Iraq, since the base is a

base belonging to the international coalition against ISIS and is located near the

Qarajukh mountains, which ISIS,

according to the French authorities, has taken since

2017 as its headquarters. Of course these forces are among

a total of 600 to 700 French soldiers

deployed in Iraq on a training mission and a logistical support mission,

as well as intelligence support for the Iraqi forces and also

for the Kurdish Peshmerga forces. And the French authorities say they do not

get involved in missions or in combat operations ever directly,

and that their mission is only to train the

Kurdish forces as well as the Iraqi forces in

fighting only the remnants of the Islamic State group.

Of course this comes within the framework of In other words,

what Paris has long been keen to state is that it is not a party to this ongoing war

between Israel, the United States, and Iran,

and that its presence there is solely to protect its interests and its

citizens spread across the region,

as well as to support those it considers its partners and allies in the region.

President Macron had already been in contact with the head of the autonomous

authority in Erbil, and he also contacted Shia al- Sudani, the Iraqi prime minister,

to express to him France’s sympathy and support

and its full readiness and commitment to defend those it considers its partners

in the region, with Iraq among them, Mohammed.

Thank you, Lotfi Al- Masoudi, Al Jazeera’s correspondent,

you were with us from Paris.