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French troops to leave south Afghanistan

Angelique Chrisafis

Paris: France is to withdraw all 200 of its special forces engaged in the U.S. anti-terror operation in south-eastern Afghanistan, the Government announced on Sunday.

The elite troops have been under U.S. command near the Pakistani border since 2003 as part of the U.S. operation to hunt down Taliban fighters after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Mounting violence

France's decision to pull out the troops comes amid mounting violence in Afghanistan, where the Taliban militants are returning to the fore despite some 32,800 NATO troops in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). ISAF commanders have recently been demanding more troops for the south, where the militants are most active.

Taliban militants have exploded more than 100 suicide bombs in the country so far this year, a more than five-fold increase from 2005.

Seven French elite troops have been killed in action in Afghanistan and 12 others have been wounded.

The French Defence Ministry stressed that the withdrawal from the south-eastern city of Jalalabad did not signal a wider move to quit Afghanistan. France currently heads the NATO force in Kabul, contributing 1,100 of the city's 2,000 troops. —

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

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