Ten French soldiers have been killed in fighting with Taliban insurgents east of the Afghan capital, according to Afghan military sources.
The soldiers, part of Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), were engaged in a major battle with insurgents that began yesterday about 50 kilometres east of Kabul, an Afghan military source said.
It is the biggest single loss of French troops in Afghanistan since US-led and Afghan forces toppled the Taliban after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
France has 1,670 troops in Afghanistan having sent an extra 700 soldiers this year, responding to a US call for its Nato allies to send more forces to check a surge in violence.
ISAF said its troops were engaged in a "major battle" with insurgents in Kabul province that began yesterday, but spokesmen declined to comment on the French casualties.
The Afghan Defence Ministry said 27 insurgents have been killed or wounded in the clashes in Ouzbin area to the east of Kabul and at least two Afghan soldiers have been wounded.
The Taliban claimed on its website that 20 US soldiers had been killed in the fighting, which they said erupted after militants ambushed a convoy of Afghan and foreign forces yesterday. That claim could not be immediately verified.
Reuters