France denounces war crimes after the death of two French soldiers in Lebanon

A day after the death of a second French blue helmet in Lebanon, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, spoke out on France Info on Thursday, April 23 to denounce “a war crime.”

Corporal-chef Anicet Girardin, 31, and sergeant-chef Florian Montorio, 40, were killed in an attack attributed to Hezbollah on Saturday. “It is a war crime to attack these blue helmets who are peace soldiers, who are there to reduce tension and limit hostilities,” said Jean-Noël Barrot.

The soldiers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are deployed “to participate in a peace process with the disarmament of Hezbollah, the withdrawal of Israel from Lebanese territory, and the return of displaced persons,” he recalled.

“Attacking blue helmets, peace soldiers who are easily identifiable in the field, is not only constitutive of a war crime, but also an attack on the entire international community,” added Jean-Noël Barrot.

The minister also stated that the investigation continues to determine the details of the attack that cost the lives of the two French soldiers. “We especially want those responsible to be punished for the crimes they have committed,” he said, ensuring that France is putting pressure on the Lebanese authorities to obtain information.

An homage ceremony on Thursday

A national tribute ceremony and a silent march will take place Thursday morning in Montauban to honor the memory of sergeant-chef Florian Montorio. The soldier, who had served in numerous operational theaters since his engagement in 2007, was killed on Saturday “by direct fire from a light weapon” in the region of Deir-Kifa in southern Lebanon, as specified by the Minister of the Armed Forces, Catherine Vautrin.

French authorities and the UN attributed the attack to the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement active in southern Lebanon, which denied any involvement. On Wednesday, Emmanuel Macron announced that a second French military member of UNIFIL, corporal-chef Anicet Girardin, wounded in the same ambush, had succumbed to his injuries.

In total, three French soldiers have been killed since the beginning, on February 28, of the war led by Israel and the United States against Iran. The third soldier identified is Major Arnaud Frion, who was killed in mid-March in Iraq in a drone attack attributed to a pro-Iranian militia in the Erbil region, where he was participating in an anti-jihadist training mission.