10 French soldiers killed in Afghanistan ambush
The attack near Kabul is the worst single-incident loss of life in at least three years for Western troops in Afghanistan. In a separate incident, militants again attack a U.S. base in Khost.
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — In the worst single-incident loss of life in at least three years for Western troops in Afghanistan, insurgents ambushed and killed 10 French soldiers and wounded 21 others in a sustained assault a short distance from the capital, military officials said today.
Separately, militants made an hours-long attempt to overrun a major U.S. base in southeastern Afghanistan, employing an untried and unnerving new tactic: at least half a dozen suicide bombers blowing themselves up in succession.
It was the second assault in two days against the base, in the city of Khost near the Pakistan border. American troops managed to fend off the assailants.
Taken together, the attacks were a graphic demonstration of the growing reach and power of the Taliban and other Islamic militants in Afghanistan, where this year is fast becoming the most lethal for combatants and civilians alike since the fall of the Taliban to U.S.-led forces in 2001.
The initial ambush on the French reconnaissance forces in the Sarobi district of Kabul province took place late Monday and continued into today, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement. It said about 100 insurgents took part.
Attacks involving large numbers of militants mark a tactical departure for the insurgents, who have generally eschewed large-scale frontal assaults in favor of smaller hit-and-run attacks that allow them to melt away when NATO troops use their greatly superior firepower.
The high toll among the French forces occurred despite the fact that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization rushed in reinforcements, including close air support and mobile medical units. The fighting took place about 30 miles east of Kabul.
Western military officials said a "large number" of insurgents were killed in the battle, but declined to provide a more specific figure.
The French contingent has until now suffered relatively light casualties in Afghanistan, compared to U.S., British and Canadian forces, who are deployed in the most dangerous and hostile areas, in the south and east.
But the Taliban, which generally has a sophisticated grasp of the domestic political situation in nations that provide troops to the NATO force, has sometimes specifically targeted troops from countries where they believe there is significant opposition to the Afghan mission.
