One French soldier was killed and nine were injured, several of them gravely, in the explosion of a bomb in Afghanistan, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday in a press statement, according to dpa. The victims were part of a French motorized patrol on a mission in the region of Showki, between the military bases of Nijrab and Bagram in the east of the country. Sarkozy condemned what he called "blind violence" and expressed "the determination of France to continue to work for the re- establishment of peace and development in Afghanistan. About 3,000 French soldiers are currently stationed on Afghan territory.
