Sarkozy left for Afghanistan late Tuesday after the deadliest ground attack on foreign troops in Afghanistan since the US-led war in 2001 that ousted the Taliban.

"In its struggle against terrorism, France has just been hard hit," said Sarkozy in a statement before flying out on a trip accompanied by Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Defence Minister Herve Morin.

The president said he was travelling to Kabul to reassure the 3,000 French troops serving in the NATO force of more than 40,000 that "France is at their side."

Offering condolences to the soldiers' families, Sarkozy said France would not be deterred from its Afghan mission.

"My determination is intact. France is committed to pursuing the struggle against terrorism, for democracy and for freedom.

"This is a just cause, it is an honour for France and for its army to defend it," he said.

The 10 soldiers were killed during fighting on Monday and Tuesday following the ambush on a joint NATO reconnaissance mission with the Afghan national army in Sarobi district, 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of Kabul.

Twenty four French troops have now been killed in action or in accidents in Afghanistan since they first arrived in 2002.

It was the deadliest attack on French troops since a 1983 assault in Beirut in which 58 French paratroopers serving in a UN force were killed.

"Serious measures, notably in the air, were taken to support and extricate our men caught in an extremely violent ambush," Sarkozy said.

A key Taliban leader was wounded in the fighting, army chief of staff Jean-Louis Georgelin said, while Morin estimated casualties on the Taliban side at some 30 dead and 30 injured.

Morin said the 21 wounded French soldiers were in stable condition and that some would be flown back to Paris soon.

"There were very violent battles that lasted several hours and an operation is still ongoing in the zone," said Morin.

Sarkozy announced French reinforcements to Afghanistan at a NATO summit in April, drawing fierce criticism at home from left-wing opponents who see the broadened involvement as a sign of French alignment with US policy.

The opposition Socialists on Tuesday called for an emergency debate in parliament, with party leader Francois Hollande saying the military losses raised questions that "deserve a quick answer."

Hollande said parliament needs to consider: "What are the goals of this war? How many troops will be needed to achieve its stated objectives? What has been achieved by the military action and the reconstruction effort waged since 2001?".

Buoyed by opinion polls showing a majority of the French opposed to the beefed-up French mission in Afghanistan, the Socialists tabled a no-confidence vote against Sarkozy in April that was defeated by the right-wing majority.

The far-right also weighed in with criticism on Tuesday.

"These soldiers were doing their duty, but they did not die for France. They died in an unending war that the United States is waging in that country for its own interests," said far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.

"Our soldiers should not be killed for Uncle Sam," he said in a statement.

Pollster Bruno Jeanbart said French politicians "will have to explain better to the French what is the role of their soldiers there, what they do there."

Kouchner told a NATO meeting in Brussels that the French troops died while "fighting for a part of world peace."

NATO is supporting the weak government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai against the Taliban.

The trip will be Sarkozy's second to Afghanistan following a visit on December 22.

France's contingent in Afghanistan has been mostly deployed in the Kabul area and the province of Kapisa, northeast of the capital.

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