(Ten) French paratroopers killed in ambush near Kabul

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Source: AP

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

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

The soldiers were on a renonnaissance mission in the Surobi district, about 30 miles east of the Afghan capital, when they were ambushed Monday afternoon. NATO sent backup and said a "large number" of the attackers were killed in the three-hour gunbattle.

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


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