French troops killed in Afghan gunfight

Ten French soldiers have been killed fighting Taliban forces outside Kabul.

Four of them were executed after being taken hostage during the two-day battle in the Surobi district 30 miles from the capital.

The deaths almost double the overall French toll to 22. France has around 1,600 troops with the Nato-led force in Afghanistan.

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy said he would fly to Kabul today to meet troops after the deaths.

A district chief in Surobi said a patrol of French soldiers came under Taliban attack yesterday sparking a three-hour gun battle in which 13 militants were killed.

France will have some 2,600 troops in Afghanistan by the end of this month, after President Sarkozy pledged in April to send more troops to eastern Afghanistan.

The French troops have been mostly based in Kabul up to now.

The deaths of 10 soldiers would be the deadliest attack against international troops since June 2005, when 16 American troops were killed in Kunar province when their helicopter was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade.