SUROBI, Afghanistan | Insurgents ambushed a group of French paratroopers as they climbed a mountain pass, killing 10 soldiers in a militant stronghold outside the capital, and in a separate coordinated attack, a team of suicide bombers tried unsuccessfully to storm a U.S. base near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
The deaths of the French soldiers on Monday marked the biggest single combat loss for international forces in Afghanistan in more than three years.
The soldiers were on a reconnaissance mission in the Surobi district, about 30 miles east of the Afghan capital, when they were ambushed Monday afternoon, officials said Tuesday. NATO sent backup and said a “large number” of the attackers were killed in the three-hour gunbattle.
France’s top military official, Gen. Jean-Louis Georgelin, said most of the French casualties came in the minutes after the team was climbing a mountain pass. The fighting lasted into nightfall, he said.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said, “In its fight against terrorism, France has just been struck severely.”
But, he added, “My determination remains intact.”
Qazi Suliman, the district chief in Surobi, said 13 militants were killed.
One Western official described the attacks on the French as “complex.”
Gen. Georgelin denied a statement from an Afghan security official that four French soldiers were captured by insurgents and then killed. The Afghan official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not supposed to release the information.
It was 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. servicemen died when insurgents attacked a base on the Kunar-Nuristan border in eastern Afghanistan.
The death toll could heighten domestic opposition to Mr. Sarkozy’s plan to boost the French contingent by about 700 soldiers by the end of this month for a total of 2,600. Mr. Sarkozy said he plans to travel to Afghanistan to reassure French troops 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 Monday, said Arsallah Jamal, the governor of Khost.
A suicide bombing outside the same base 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.
NATO said three suicide bombers detonated their vests. NATO said seven attackers in total were killed.
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 safe house, he said.
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.
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