French Defense Minister Catherine Vautrin presided over a national tribute ceremony in Montauban to honor the memory of Staff Sergeant Florian Montorio, who was killed in an attack on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.
Vautrin said French soldiers were clearing a route rigged with an improvised explosive device when they became engaged by heavy fire from Hezbollah fighters lying in ambush at very close range.
Montorio, of the 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment from Montauban, died after the UNIFIL came under attack from small arms fire over the weekend.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced a second French soldier, Master Corporal Anicet Girardin, died Wednesday from his injuries.