A French soldier was killed Saturday while fighting in the Middle East, according to the Department of Defense.
The soldier, who was fighting under the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State known as Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), died in a “combat-related incident,” military officials said.
“A French Coalition service member was killed in a combat-related incident in the Middle East Sept. 23,” OIR said in a statement. “The service member’s name and the circumstances surrounding the death will be released at the discretion of the pertinent national authorities.”
France is one of 70 OIR nations fighting to defeat ISIS in ongoing operations in Iraq and Syria. French troops are deeply involved in the offensive to reclaim Raqqa, one of the terror group’s last remaining strongholds in Syria.
ISIS has used Raqqa as a base of operations from which to plan terror attacks in Europe, including a November 2015 attack in Paris that killed more than 130 people.
It was not immediately clear where the French soldier was killed Saturday. The office of French President Emmanuel Macron says the soldier was from the 13th regiment of paratroopers, reports Reuters.
“The President has learned with great sadness of the death in the Levant this morning of a [soldier] … killed in fighting,” Macron’s office said in a statement, according to Reuters.
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