Ambush of French paratroopers near Kabul kills 10

SUROBI, Afghanistan - About 100 insurgents ambushed a group of French parachutists, killing 10 soldiers in an area outside the capital known as a militant stronghold. In a separate coordinated attack, a team of suicide bombers tried unsuccessfully to storm a U.S. military base near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

The death of the French soldiers marked the biggest single loss of life for international forces in combat in Afghanistan in more than three years, officials said Tuesday.

"In its fight against terrorism, France has just been struck severely," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a statement.

But he added, "My determination remains intact. France is resolved to pursue the fight against terrorism, for democracy and liberty. The cause is just, it is the honor of France and its armies to defend it."

The soldiers were on a reconnaissance mission in the Surobi district, an area known as a militant redoubt about 30 miles east of the Afghan capital.

Qazi Suliman, the district chief in Surobi, said the ambush sparked a three-hour gunbattle. Sarkozy confirmed that 10 soldiers from the 8th infantry parachute regiment were killed and 21 wounded.

An Afghan official said four of the soldiers were kidnapped by insurgents and killed. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not supposed to release the information.

Suliman said he had a report that 13 militants were killed. NATO said it sent reinforcements and a "large number" of the 100 attackers died.

One Western official described the attacks on the French as "complex."

It is the deadliest attack against international troops in Afghanistan since June 2005, when 16 American troops were killed in Kunar province when their helicopter was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade.

In July of this year nine U.S. troops died when insurgents attacked a base on the Kunar-Nuristan border in eastern Afghanistan.

France will have some 2,600 troops in Afghanistan by the end of this month, after Sarkozy pledged in April to send 700 more troops to eastern Afghanistan. Sarkozy said he plans to travel to Afghanistan to reassure French troops and that "France is at their sides."

In the attack on the U.S. base just a few miles from the border with Pakistan, militants failed to gain entry to Camp Salerno in Khost city after launching waves of attacks just before midnight on Monday, said Arsallah Jamal, the governor of Khost.

A suicide bombing outside the same base on Monday killed 10 civilians and wounded 13 others.

Ground forces, fighter aircraft and helicopters chased the retreating militants. NATO said its forces identified the attackers about 1,000 yards outside of the base perimeter and launched helicopter gunships.

Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, the Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman, said Afghan soldiers, aided by U.S. troops, chased and surrounded a group of insurgents, and that six militants blew themselves up when cornered. Seven other militants died in those explosions and a rolling gun battle, he said.

"(The Afghan National Army) is saying that anytime we get close to them, they detonate themselves," Jamal said.

NATO offered a slightly different account, saying three suicide bombers detonated their vests and three more were shot dead. NATO said seven attackers in total were killed.

At least 13 insurgents and two Afghan civilians died, officials said.

The Taliban appeared to confirm the account. Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said 15 militants had been dispatched for the attack on Salerno. Seven blew themselves up and eight returned to a Taliban safehouse, he said.

Jamal said the bodies of at least two dead militants were outside the checkpoint leading to the base's airport, both wearing vests packed with explosives, Jamal said.

Militants have long targeted U.S. bases with suicide bombers, but coordinated attacks on such a major base are rare.

On Monday, the top U.S. general in the region, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey J. Schloesser, issued a rare public warning that militants planned to attack civilian, military and government targets during the celebration of Independence Day on Monday.

More than 3,400 people — mostly militants — have been killed in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from Western and Afghan officials.