"A war without end," said a headline in the left-wing Liberation newspaper, whose editorial nonetheless said that for France and the 40 other nations with troops in Afghanistan, "the worst solution would obviously be withdrawal".

Far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen said "our soldiers should not be killed for Uncle Sam".

But Le Pen aside, the debate across the political spectrum focused on the strategy of the Nato-led force in Afghanistan and not on pulling out the troops.

President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision in April to send an extra 700 troops to Afghanistan - in response to a Nato-wide call for reinforcements - bringing the number of French soldiers there to about 3 000, was hugely unpopular.

Opinion polls showed that a large majority of French opposed the move, with many fearing France would get bogged down in an unending war whose aims were unclear or unattainable.

About 70 000 international troops - 40 000 of them with a Nato-led force - are fighting alongside Afghans against Taliban militants whose regime was ousted in a US-led invasion launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Many commentators and political leaders now see Afghanistan - which under the Taliban let al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden operate freely on its territory - as the frontline in the fight against international terrorism.

Nampa-AFP

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