French President Nicolas Sarkozy has confirmed that 10 French soldiers were killed and 21 wounded during a reconnaissance mission in Afghanistan. Sarkozy says he will go to Kabul on Tuesday night to assure French troops «that France is at their sides. » He says the parachutists of the 8th infantry parachute regiment were killed in clashes Monday during a mission with the Afghan army outside Kabul. The president's statement says French aviation with support from NATO allies eventually pushed back the Afghan militants. It was the highest French military death toll in an attack since clashes in Bouake, Ivory Coast in 2004, the Associated Press reported.
