France to beef up Afghanistan mission

PARIS: France announced Monday it will beef up its mission in Afghanistan with helicopters, drones and other military means amid debate over whether 10 French soldiers killed there were poorly equipped.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon said France had “learned the lessons” from last month’s Taliban ambush that left 10 soldiers dead and 21 wounded, the country’s worst military losses in 25 years.

“We have decided to strengthen our military means in the areas of air mobility, intelligence and support,” said Fillon at the opening of a parliament debate on whether to keep French troops in Afghanistan.

The National Assembly voted in favour of continuing the mission, with the majority from President Nicolas Sarkozy’s right-wing party easily overriding objections from the Socialists. The Senate, also dominated by the ruling right, followed suit later, with a 209-119 vote in favour.

Fillon said transport and attack helicopters, drones, surveillance equipment, mortars and 100 additional troops necessary for the beefed-up operation will be deployed.

The reinforcements will be in place in a few weeks, he added.

But the prime minister denied a report in Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper that the 30 French soldiers were no match for the better-equipped and trained Taliban fighters who attacked them on August 18 in the mountains east of Kabul.

The newspaper quoted a secret NATO report stating that the paratroopers had run out of ammunition after only 90 minutes and had only one radio that was quickly knocked out, leaving them unable to call in air support.

“The reality is cruel enough without adding lies and disinformation,” Fillon said.

There was no loss of radio contact and the troops were “always able to respond” to Taliban firepower, he added.

Both NATO and the French military denied the existence of any such report, saying the newspaper was referring to a leaked email sent by an officer to NATO command in Kabul that gave a partial account of the ambush. France’s armed forces chief of staff Jean-Louis Georgelin said it came from a member of a US special forces unit that was patrolling with the French troops before the ambush.

The mountain ambush was the deadliest ground attack on international troops since they were sent to Afghanistan in 2001 to oust the hardline Taliban regime.

Tuesday, AFP