-
PARIS - Two French special forces soldiers were killed Friday during armed combat with Taliban militants in eastern Afghanistan, the defence ministry in Paris said.
The men, who were not identified by name, included an air force airman first class and a senior chief petty officer of the navy, it said. Two other air force non-commissioned officers were wounded in the operation.
Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie expressed her "sincere condolences to the victims' families and loved ones, and her hopes for the swift recovery of the two wounded soldiers".
The ministry reaffirmed its support for French soldiers participating in peacekeeping operations as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
ISAF, along with Afghan forces and a US-led military coalition, is battling an insurgency which has grown each year since the Islamist Taliban government was driven from power in late 2001 for harboring the Al-Qaeda terror network.
Violence has claimed the lives of dozens of foreign troops and nearly 1,000 Afghan rebels this year.
08/25/2006 21:10 GMT
