Afghan ambush kills French troops
 Some of the dead soldiers had been based in Kabul's Warehouse camp |
Ten French soldiers have been killed in an ambush by Taleban fighters east of the Afghan capital, Kabul.
A further 21 French troops were wounded in one of the heaviest tolls suffered by the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced he will travel to Kabul to assure troops of his support.
The deaths come amid warnings that insurgents are closing in on the capital city.
The loss of life is thought to be the heaviest suffered by the French military since 58 paratroopers were killed in Beirut in 1983.
The BBC's Emma-Jane Kirby, in Paris, says news of the deaths is bound to provoke anger in France, where about two-thirds of people say they are opposed to any French involvement in the conflict.
But President Sarkozy insisted France remained committed to the fight against terrorism, and that the mission in Afghanistan would continue.
The French troops were caught up in fighting that started on Monday in the area of Sarobi some 50 km (30 miles) east of Kabul.
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French defence officials said about 100 soldiers - from France, the US and Afghanistan - were on a reconnaissance mission when bad road conditions forced them to stop their vehicles.
A group of French soldiers was sent ahead on foot to check the terrain, but they were ambushed by Taleban fighters and nine were killed.
A tenth French soldier was killed when his vehicle overturned on the road.
An Afghan intelligence officer told the BBC the troops had been ambushed from several directions.
"The Taleban and al-Qaeda forces used heavy machine guns and other weapons. They fired from mountains and gardens," he said.
The fighting went on for 24 hours and it is understood that reinforcements had to be called in to airlift the troops to safety.
The French recently took over control of the Kabul regional command which includes Sarobi.
Wave of attacks
France has about 3,000 troops deployed in Afghanistan. The French news agency AFP reported that Tuesday's deaths brought to 24 the number killed since 2002.
Leaders from countries including the UK and Italy - both of which have sizeable troop deployments in Afghanistan - paid tribute to the French soldiers.
 | DEADLY ATTACKS 19 August 2008: 10 French troops killed and 21 wounded in ambush east of Kabul 13 July 2008: Nine US soldiers killed and 15 wounded in attack on base in Kunar 28 June 2005: Rocket-propelled grenade downs US helicopter in Kunar, killing all 16 servicemen aboard  |
"Theirs was a sacrifice not just for France but for all of us who want to help the Afghan people build a better future," said UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said the soldiers had died "defending democracy and freedom in Afghanistan".
The ambush came amid signs of deteriorating security in Afghanistan.
Despite increased security in Kabul, two rockets were fired on the city overnight, landing close to the Isaf headquarters.
In the southern province of Kandahar a Nato patrol was struck by a roadside bomb.
And in the south-eastern province of Khost six suicide bombers were killed while attacking a Nato military base, Camp Salerno, Nato says.
Isaf confirmed that Camp Salerno had been attacked by rockets or mortars, and that a number of suicide bombers had tried to storm the base.
On Monday, nine Afghan civilians were killed when a suicide bomber rammed a car into the gate of the same base.
Russia hits back at Nato warning
Russian tanks and armoured vehicles roll out of Gori, Georgia
Russia has dismissed a warning by Nato that normal relations are impossible while its troops remain inside Georgia.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Nato of bias and of trying to save the "criminal regime" in Tbilisi.
He insisted Moscow was not occupying Georgia and had no plans to annex the separatist region of South Ossetia.
Earlier, Nato demanded that Russia pull out its troops from Georgia as agreed in an EU-brokered ceasefire plan signed by both parties at the weekend.
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev told his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy in a phone call that the pull-out would be complete by 21-22 August, with the exception of some 500 troops, who will be installed in peacekeeping posts on either side of South Ossetia's border.
Some Russian troops have been seen leaving Gori, the largest Georgian town close to the South Ossetia border.
But BBC correspondents on the ground say there are still Russian artillery positions in place. In addition, there are Russian checkpoints close to the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.
The conflict broke out on 7 August when Georgia launched an assault to wrest back control of the Moscow-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia, triggering a counter-offensive by Russian troops who advanced beyond South Ossetia into Georgia's heartland.
Both sides have accused the other of violating the peace plan, and correspondents say there has so far been little sign of any large-scale withdrawal.
Buffer zone
Following crisis talks in Brussels, Nato's 26 foreign ministers said in a joint statement that they could not have normal relations with Russia as long as Moscow had troops in Georgia.
| PEACE PLAN No more use of force Stop all military actions for good Free access to humanitarian aid Georgian troops return to their places of permanent deployment Russian troops to return to pre-conflict positions International talks about security in South Ossetia and Abkhazia |
"The Alliance is considering seriously the implications of Russia's actions for the Nato-Russia relationship," the statement said, read out by Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.
"We have determined that we cannot continue with business as usual."
Mr de Hoop Scheffer added that he could not see how the Nato-Russia Council - set up in 2002 as a framework for dialogue - could convene at this time.
But he said lines of communication would not be abandoned.
He also said that the member states had agreed to set up a Nato-Georgia commission to strengthen ties with Tbilisi, but stopped short of giving a timetable for Georgia's accession to Nato.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Nato's message to Russia
In a televised address, Russia's foreign minister underlined Moscow's view that Russian troops only entered South Ossetia after Georgia tried to reintegrate the breakaway region by force.
Sergei Lavrov accused Nato of being "unobjective and biased".
"It appears to me that Nato is trying to portray the aggressor as the victim, to whitewash a criminal regime and to save a failing regime," he said.
Earlier, the Russian military warned that the withdrawal would be slow until the weekend at least, and that troops would remain in an undefined buffer zone around South Ossetia.
It said such a move was permitted under the ceasefire deal which allowed Russia to take additional security measures until international peacekeepers were deployed.
But Georgia accused Moscow of going much further, saying Russian troops have seized control of a key commercial port in Poti in an attempt to cripple the Georgian economy.
The sight of GWB [US President George Bush] complaining about Russia's "disproportionate use of force" is hilarious
In an apparent goodwill gesture Russia exchanged 15 Georgian prisoners for five of its own troops at a Russian checkpoint in Igoeti, about 30km (18 miles) from Georgia's capital.
Georgian officials told the BBC's Helen Fawkes, who was at the scene, that two of the Russian prisoners were airmen who had been shot down by Georgian forces about two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said Russia and Georgia had agreed to allow 20 extra military observers to be deployed in and around South Ossetia.
In total, the OSCE said it would send up to 100 additional monitors to join the handful it already has in Georgia.
The OSCE has had a presence in South Ossetia since the end of a civil war there in the early 1990s, which resulted in de facto independence for the region.
It also supports a UN-led peace process in Georgia's other separatist region of Abkhazia.
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