The Head of State will dine with the 350 soldiers from the planned air base in the Levant, who are participating in an international coalition against the Islamic State group in Iraq.
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After Egypt in 2022, Emmanuel Macron chooses Jordan. The president will travel, on December 21 and 22, to the French H5 air base, located in the Jordanian desert, for the traditional Christmas with the French forces deployed abroad, the Elysée announced on Friday, December 15. “As the end-of-year celebrations approach, the Head of State wished to offer a dinner, prepared by the chef of the kitchens of the Presidency of the Republic, to the 350 soldiers engaged from this base in the fight against terrorism”specified the presidency.
The soldiers of this temporary base, called “projected”, participate in an international anti-jihadist coalition, Inherent Resolve, which intervenes mainly in Iraq and which is led by the United States. “In coordination with the Iraqi government and allies present in the theater, France provides military support to local forces engaged in the fight against the Islamic State group on their territory”recalls the Elysée.
Three French soldiers killed in Iraq this summer
Around 600 French soldiers are deployed in total in the region as part of Operation Chammal, which constitutes the French part of this international coalition launched in 2014. The planned air base in Jordan has been part of Chammal since 2015. Commandos and Rafale fighter planes are stationed there and carry out intelligence and reconnaissance missions and, occasionally, strikes. This force was mourned in August by the death of three French soldiers in Iraq.
For the last Christmas with the troops, in December 2022, Emmanuel Macron went to the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle off the coast of Egypt. In 2020 and 2021, he had to give it up due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In previous years, he had traveled to Africa (Chad in 2018, Ivory Coast in 2019) where the French army was then very involved in the fight against terrorism. French forces have since largely withdrawn from the Sahel, amid coups and the rise of anti-French sentiment in the region.