French President Emmanuel Macron has urged that Iraq must avoid being drawn into the ongoing escalation of tensions in the Middle East. His warning came after a deadly strike in northern Iraq that targeted fighters of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), a group now integrated into Iraq’s army.

Macron spoke with Nechirvan Barzani, President of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, and described a recent drone attack on Barzani’s official residence as “unacceptable.” He stressed that all efforts should be made to protect Iraq from further involvement in regional conflicts.

The PMF reported that three of its members were killed in what it described as a US-Israeli attack. Earlier this week, six Kurdish Peshmerga fighters were also killed in an Iranian missile strike.

The situation is complicated by Iran’s concern over armed Kurdish groups in northern Iraq possibly crossing into its own Kurdish region along the border, raising fears of further clashes.