French President held phone call with Iraq PM

PARIS - French President Emmanuel Macron held a phone call on Tuesday with Iraq Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, during which Macron reaffirmed to Al-Sudani France's support in the battle against Islamic State, said a statement from Macron's office.

The talks between the two politicians come after three French soldiers were recently killed while on operation in Iraq.

The French and Iraqi forces landed by helicopters in the al-Eth area after an Iraqi air strike on Islamic State militants' position but came under intense attack, the sources said.

"It was clearly an ambush by terrorists," one Iraqi security source said. The battle lasted for more than four hours.

Iraq declared final victory over Islamic State in December 2017 but it still operates in separate groups in pockets of northern and western Iraq and still carries ambushes, assassinations and bombings across Iraq.

The hardline group has resorted to guerrilla tactics since it abandoned its goal of holding territory and creating a self-sufficient caliphate straddling Iraq and Syria.