August 20, 2008
KABUL: French President Nicolas Sarkozy has arrived in Afghanistan, vowing to pursue France's mission after 10 of its troops died in the deadliest attack yet on international forces there.
Mr Sarkozy was flying in with his Defence Minister Herve Morin for a visit in which he was expected to meet some of the 21 French soldiers also wounded in the fighting this week, French officials said.
The French President was also likely to meet his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai before returning home.
Mr Sarkozy announced he would travel to Afghanistan as soon as the news broke yesterday of the fighting 50km east of the capital Kabul.
The visit was to show the troops that “France is at their side,” he said.
“In its struggle against terrorism, France has just been hard hit,” Mr Sarkozy said.
It was the deadliest attack on international forces fighting extremists in Afghanistan since the US-led war which ousted the hardline Taliban regime in 2001.
It was also the deadliest on French soldiers since a 1983 assault in Beirut in which 58 paratroopers were killed.
But Mr Sarkozy insisted France would not be deterred from its Afghan mission, for which it has 3000 soldiers serving in a NATO-led International Security Assistance Force of more than 40,000 troops from nearly 40 nations.
“My determination is intact. France is committed to pursuing the struggle against terrorism, for democracy and for freedom,” he said in a statement from his holiday residence in the French Riviera.
“This is a just cause, it is an honour for France and for its army to defend it.”
US forces provided air support in the battle, after which the Taliban said it had destroyed several military vehicles.
“Serious measures, notably in the air, were taken to support and extricate our men caught in an extremely violent ambush,” Mr Sarkozy said.
Mr Morin estimated casualties on the Taliban side at 30 dead and 30 wounded.
The French losses drew sympathy from other countries which have suffered heavy losses in Afghanistan, where extremist violence has grown every year with more foreign and Al-Qa'ida-linked fighters believed involved.
US President George W. Bush offered his condolences, as did the leaders of Britain and Canada, other key contributors to the ISAF deployment.
The European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said the attack was “a disgraceful and barbaric act”.
KABUL: French President Nicolas Sarkozy has arrived in Afghanistan, vowing to pursue France's mission after 10 of its troops died in the deadliest attack yet on international forces there.
Mr Sarkozy was flying in with his Defence Minister Herve Morin for a visit in which he was expected to meet some of the 21 French soldiers also wounded in the fighting this week, French officials said.
The French President was also likely to meet his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai before returning home.
Mr Sarkozy announced he would travel to Afghanistan as soon as the news broke yesterday of the fighting 50km east of the capital Kabul.
The visit was to show the troops that “France is at their side,” he said.
“In its struggle against terrorism, France has just been hard hit,” Mr Sarkozy said.
It was the deadliest attack on international forces fighting extremists in Afghanistan since the US-led war which ousted the hardline Taliban regime in 2001.
It was also the deadliest on French soldiers since a 1983 assault in Beirut in which 58 paratroopers were killed.
But Mr Sarkozy insisted France would not be deterred from its Afghan mission, for which it has 3000 soldiers serving in a NATO-led International Security Assistance Force of more than 40,000 troops from nearly 40 nations.
“My determination is intact. France is committed to pursuing the struggle against terrorism, for democracy and for freedom,” he said in a statement from his holiday residence in the French Riviera.
“This is a just cause, it is an honour for France and for its army to defend it.”
US forces provided air support in the battle, after which the Taliban said it had destroyed several military vehicles.
“Serious measures, notably in the air, were taken to support and extricate our men caught in an extremely violent ambush,” Mr Sarkozy said.
Mr Morin estimated casualties on the Taliban side at 30 dead and 30 wounded.
The French losses drew sympathy from other countries which have suffered heavy losses in Afghanistan, where extremist violence has grown every year with more foreign and Al-Qa'ida-linked fighters believed involved.
US President George W. Bush offered his condolences, as did the leaders of Britain and Canada, other key contributors to the ISAF deployment.
The European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said the attack was “a disgraceful and barbaric act”.
Source: The Australian
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