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French soldiers killed in gunbattle near Kabul

Ten French soldiers were killed and 21 others were wounded in clashes with Taliban insurgents east of Kabul, the French president's office said on Tuesday.

  • Agencies
  • Published: 14:03 August 19, 2008
  • Gulf News

Kabul: Ten French soldiers were killed and 21 others were wounded in clashes with Taliban insurgents east of Kabul, the French president's office said on Tuesday.

Taliban militants ambushed the French convoy from three sides in the Sarobi district of Kabul province, about 60 kilometres east of Kabul on Monday.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will travel to Afghanistan on Tuesday in response to the attack, his office said.

"My determination is intact. France is determined to continue the struggle against terrorism for democracy and freedom. The cause is just," Sarkozy said in the statement.

Qazi Suliman, the district chief in Surobi, says a patrol of French soldiers came under Taliban attack on Monday, sparking a three-hour gunbattle. Suliman says he has a report that 13 militants were killed.

He says that fighting picked up again on Tuesday.

This is the single highest loss of French soldiers in Afghanistan since 2001.

France has 1,670 troops with Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan, after Sarkozy sent an extra 700 soldiers this year in response to a US call.

The soldiers belonged to the 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment, the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment and the Regiment de marche du Tchad.

Fighting has killed or wounded at least 27 militants and two Afghan soldiers, the Afghan Defence Ministry said.

However, an online Taliban statement claimed that 20 US soldiers had been killed in the fighting.

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