In Montauban, nationwide tribute to Florian Montorio, French peacekeeper killed in Lebanon | EUROtoday

A nationwide tribute was paid in Montauban, Thursday April 23, to Sergeant Florian Montorio, peacekeeper killed Saturday in an ambush in Lebanon and certainly one of three French troopers lifeless because the begin of the conflict between Israel and the United States in opposition to Iran on the finish of February.

Aged 40 on the time of his loss of life, Florian Montorio belonged to the 17^e parachutist engineering regiment (RGP) of Montauban, the one regiment of this kind and whose mission is to be parachuted into the theater of operations to facilitate the advance of different troops on the bottom.

The tribute ceremony occurred the day after the loss of life of one other soldier wounded in the identical ambush in Lebanon, bringing to 3 the variety of French troopers who’ve died because the begin of this conflict which has engulfed the area.

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It was beneath vivid sunshine, on the huge parade floor of the Doumerc barracks of this unit, that the navy funeral honors have been paid to him, throughout a ceremony presided over by the Minister of the Armed Forces, Catherine Vautrin, and the Chief of Staff of the Army, General Pierre Schill, within the presence of Caroline of Monaco, godmother of the regiment.

“Wherever Florian Montorio served, everywhere he distinguished himself,” declared Catherine Vautrin throughout her speech, specifying that, since 1978, 144 French troopers have misplaced their lives in Lebanon.

The soldier, nonetheless carried by the “permanent momentum of overtaking”, was “hit by direct fire from a small weapon”, she mentioned.

French authorities and the UN attributed the assault that precipitated his loss of life within the Deir-Kifa area to the pro-Iranian Hezbollah motion, lively in southern Lebanon, which denied any involvement.

On Wednesday, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, introduced {that a} second French soldier from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), hit in the identical ambush, had succumbed to his wounds.

“Constitutes a war crime”

Thursday, Catherine Vautrin additionally paid tribute to this soldier, Anicet Girardin, 31 years previous: “I want to spare a thought for his combat comrade,” she mentioned.

According to her, this 31-year-old grasp corporal was injured whereas “he was helping his element leader who had just fallen.”

See additionallyUNIFIL: the powerlessness of the peacekeepers

Attacking identifiable peacekeepers is “constituting a war crime”, underlined for his half, additionally on Thursday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot.

UNIFIL additionally recalled on Saturday that “deliberate attacks against peacekeepers constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law as well as Security Council resolution 1701, and may amount to war crimes.”

Father of two daughters aged 9 and 15, Florian Montorio joined the 17^e RGP in 2021 and was to return to civilian life “within a few months”, underlined on Saturday the top of this regiment, Colonel Jérémy Akil.

Thursday, after the navy ceremony, the city corridor of Montauban additionally organized a “silent march”: from the barracks, a procession will depart to achieve a church within the city the place a mass can be celebrated.

The individuals of Montalban will be capable to “park all along” and “pay homage with their presence to the soldier who was killed”, defined to AFP Didier Lallemand, the mayor (UDR) of town, recalling “the historically very close link” between the military and the native inhabitants.

“As soon as the death of this soldier was announced, there was really an emotion that took hold of the city,” he mentioned, emphasizing that “the army in Montauban is 3,500 soldiers, so it’s 3,500 families, these are children who go to school in Montauban, who attend sports clubs, who attend demonstrations.”

With AFP