In July 2022, Colonel Henri Leinekugel Le Cocq and an important part of his 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) arrived in Lebanon in the Middle East. On the 14th, the colonel took over the command of the 43rd mandate of France’s Force Commander Reserve (FCR). The FCR, consisting of about 700 soldiers, is a main reserve force of the UNIFIL, a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission to confirm Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
2020 Operation Amitie in Lebanon
In early August 2020, Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, was affected by devastating explosions. The center of the capital was heavily damaged; over 200 people died, more than 6,000 were wounded. In response to the disaster, France sent an important aid and military assistance to Lebanon in mid-August, boarded on a French ship Tonnerre and several aircraft, as part of Operation Amitie (Operation Friendship).