The Taliban have gradually closed in on Kabul in the past year, making travel south, west or east of the capital extremely hazardous for troops, aid workers and civilians and spreading fear among the populace.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is to travel to Afghanistan on Tuesday in response to the attack, his office said.

“My determination is intact. France is determined to continue the struggle against terrorism for democracy and freedom. The cause is just,” Sarkozy said in the statement. The French soldiers were killed in a major battle that erupted when Taliban insurgents ambushed their reconnaissance patrol from three sides in the Sarobi district of Kabul province about 60 km (40 miles) east of Kabul late on Monday.

Significant air support was used to extract the units from an extremely violent ambush, the French presidency said.

A “large number” of insurgents were killed in the fighting, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

France has 2,600 troops in Afghanistan, after Sarkozy sent an extra 700 soldiers this year in response to a U.S. call for its NATO allies to send more forces to check a surge in violence. Only 12 French troops had previously died in Afghanistan since U.S.-led and Afghan forces ousted the Taliban in 2001 for refusing to give up al-Qaida leaders behind the Sept. 11 attacks.

The 10 dead and 21 wounded soldiers were from the 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment, the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment and the Regiment de marche du Tchad, a mechanised marine unit.

The Afghan Defence Ministry said 27 insurgents have been killed or wounded in the fighting and at least two Afghan soldiers have been wounded.

The Taliban Web site said 20 U.S. soldiers had been killed in the fighting, which they said erupted after militants ambushed a convoy of Afghan and foreign forces late on Monday. The insurgents commonly refer to all foreign troops as American.

The Taliban have stepped up attacks in provinces bordering the Afghan capital over the past year, closing in from the volatile south and east, where the bulk of the fighting has occurred since the militants relaunched their insurgency in 2005.

Kabul has had fewer suicide bombings so far this year compared to 2007, but the attacks have been far more daring and have hit higher-profile targets, increasing the sense of insecurity in the capital.

While fighting raged east of Kabul, a wave of Taliban suicide bombers and gunmen attempted to attack the main U.S. base in southeastern Afghanistan. They were repelled by ground troops and attack helicopters, NATO-led forces said.

ISAF troops killed seven of the insurgents, six of them suicide bombers, after they spotted them preparing to attack about 1,000 meters from the base.

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