In a separate co-ordinated attack yesterday, a team of suicide bombers tried unsuccessfully to storm a US base near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

The death of the French soldiers marked the biggest single combat loss for international forces in Afghanistan in more than three years.

The soldiers were on a renonnaissance mission in the Surobi district, about 48 km east of the Afghan capital, when they were ambushed Monday afternoon.

NATO sent backup and said a "large number" of the attackers were killed in the three-hour gunbattle.

An Afghan official said insurgents kidnapped four of the soldiers and later killed them.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not supposed to release the information.

"In its fight against terrorism, France has just been struck severely," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a statement.

But he added, "My determination remains intact."

Qazi Suliman, the district chief in Surobi, said 13 militants were reported killed.

One Western official described the attacks on the French as "complex."

It is the deadliest attack against international troops in Afghanistan since June 2005, when 16 American troops were killed in Kunar province when their helicopter was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade.

The death toll could heighten domestic opposition to Sarkozy's plan to boost the French contingent by some 700 troops by the end of this month for a total of 2 600.

Sarkozy said he plans to travel to Afghanistan to reassure French troops and that "France is at their sides."

In the attack on the US base just a few miles from the border with Pakistan, militants failed to gain entry to Camp Salerno in Khost city after launching waves of attacks just before midnight on Monday, said Arsallah Jamal, the governor of Khost.

Nampa-AP

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