AFGHANISTAN:A SENIOR French general in Afghanistan has admitted that the international security force has underestimated the threat posed by the resurgent Taliban.
"We sinned through an excess of confidence," said Gen Michel Stollsteiner, the French commander of the International Security Assistance Force in the Kabul region, following an ambush by the Taliban last week that killed 10 French troops and injured a further 21.
Gen Stollsteiner said the French patrol had been surprised by the scale of the attack in what was thought to be a relatively secure region less than 50km outside the Afghan capital.
He told the AFP news agency that a French patrol had passed through the same region three days previously without encountering any resistance.
The general said vigilance and intelligence would be the international forces' watchwords as they made more use of special forces and drone aircraft to gain a better understanding of Taliban movements.
The French public has been shocked by the killing of 10 of their soldiers in the most lethal ambush by the Taliban since the fall of their regime in 2001.
Hervé Morin, France's defence minister, has said that the Taliban's attacks were intended to sow doubts among the European public. In all, 25 of the European Union's 27 member states have sent soldiers to Afghanistan.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, this year increased the number of troops deployed to about 3,000. Most mainstream French politicians continue to support this presence.
However, opposition parliamentarians have called a debate next month on the French force's preparedness and strategy in Afghanistan, in the face of mounting public concern.
An opinion poll conducted by the CSA polling organisation shortly after last week's attack found that 55 per cent of respondents supported the withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan.
The US yesterday expressed regret for any civilian deaths from international military operations in Afghanistan, without confirming reports that 89 local people had recently been killed in one incident in Herat province.
Meanwhile, yesterday a Nato-chartered helicopter crashed in Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar near the border with Pakistan, causing one death, a spokesman for the alliance said.
The civilian helicopter crashed soon after taking off from a military base in an area of the rugged province, the spokesman said, ruling out any hostile action. - (Financial Times service)