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Move comes shortly after shooting by Afghan army soldier leaves four French troops dead and another 16 wounded.
20 Jan 2012 12:17
The shooting in Tagab comes as a new report shows growing animosity between NATO and Afghan forces
France is set to suspend its training programmes for Afghan troops after four of its soldiers were killed in eastern Afghanistan, according to both NATO and Afghan accounts, by an Afghan soldier.
Sixteen more members of the French armed forces were injured in Friday's shooting, in the Tagab district of Kapisa province, north of the capital Kabul, a security official told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity.
The attack took place inside the base during a training session conducted by French forces.
French troops had surrounded their base in Kapisa and were not allowing any Afghan soldiers to approach, a security source told AFP.
The shooter has been arrested by NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the source said.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, said it is "unacceptable" that Afghan troops fire at French soldiers.
With eight other French soldiers injured, including the commander at the time, who was seriously injured, the death toll from today's attack could continue to rise.
The incident comes amid a week of setbacks for NATO forces in the Central Asian nation.
There has been a number of incidents of Afghan soldiers turning their weapons on members of the 130,000-strong foreign force fighting an uprising by the Taliban.
Last month, two soldiers with the French Foreign Legion serving in Afghanistan were shot dead by a man wearing an Afghan army uniform during a mission in Kapisa, site of the main French base in Afghanistan.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack.
Afghan soldiers 'gutless'
The latest deaths brought to 82 the number of French soldiers killed in Afghanistan since French forces deployed there at the end of 2001. Last year was been the deadliest so far, with 26 killed.
France has about 3,600 soldiers serving in the country, mainly in the provinces of Kabul and Kapisa.
President Sarkozy has dispatched Gerard Longuet, Defence Minister, and the hed of the French armed forces to Kabul, where they will conduct a thorough investigation into Friday's attack.
Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland, speaking from Paris, said "depending on the outcome of their inquiry the president will decide" whether to pull out two years earlier than planned or resuming French operations.
Though NATO does not publicly release figures for coalition soldiers killed at the hands of the Afghan soldiers they train and fight alongside, a classified report - A Crisis of Trust and Cultural Incompatibility - obtained by the New York Times shows three dozen attacks against coalition forces by Afghan soldiers since 2007.
An Afghan army colonel, speaking to the US newspaper, described his own soldiers as thieves and drug addicts, but also called the Americans "rude, arrogant bullies who use foul language."
"US soldiers dont listen, they are too arrogant," said one of the Afghan soldiers surveyed, in the report.
Another said: "They get upset due to their casualties, so they take it out on civilians during their searches."
An American soldier was quoted in the same report saying Afghan soldiers "are pretty much gutless in combat; we do most of the fighting".
Helicopter crash
The shooting of the French soldiers marked the culmination of a week of violence, including a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan, killing six American soldiers, on Thursday.
In a brief statement, ISAF said early on Friday that there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the crash on Thursday night.
The cause of the crash is still being investigated, NATO said.
Earlier on Thursday, seven civilians were killed outside a crowded gate at Kandahar Air Field, a base for US and NATO operations, after a suicide attacker set off a vehicle laden with explosives.
Eight people, including two civilians and two Afghan soldiers were wounded in the incident near the entrance of the Kandahar airport, a provincial spokesman, Zalmay Ayoubi, told local Afghan media.
The Taliban claimed responsibility, saying they were targeting a NATO convoy.
It was the second suicide bombing in as many days in southern Afghanistan, officials said. ISAF said no NATO troops were killed. It does not disclose information about injured troops.
France to suspend Afghan troop training - Central & South Asia - Al Jazeera English
20 Jan 2012 12:17
The shooting in Tagab comes as a new report shows growing animosity between NATO and Afghan forces
France is set to suspend its training programmes for Afghan troops after four of its soldiers were killed in eastern Afghanistan, according to both NATO and Afghan accounts, by an Afghan soldier.
Sixteen more members of the French armed forces were injured in Friday's shooting, in the Tagab district of Kapisa province, north of the capital Kabul, a security official told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity.
The attack took place inside the base during a training session conducted by French forces.
French troops had surrounded their base in Kapisa and were not allowing any Afghan soldiers to approach, a security source told AFP.
The shooter has been arrested by NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the source said.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, said it is "unacceptable" that Afghan troops fire at French soldiers.
With eight other French soldiers injured, including the commander at the time, who was seriously injured, the death toll from today's attack could continue to rise.
The incident comes amid a week of setbacks for NATO forces in the Central Asian nation.
There has been a number of incidents of Afghan soldiers turning their weapons on members of the 130,000-strong foreign force fighting an uprising by the Taliban.
Last month, two soldiers with the French Foreign Legion serving in Afghanistan were shot dead by a man wearing an Afghan army uniform during a mission in Kapisa, site of the main French base in Afghanistan.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack.
Afghan soldiers 'gutless'
The latest deaths brought to 82 the number of French soldiers killed in Afghanistan since French forces deployed there at the end of 2001. Last year was been the deadliest so far, with 26 killed.
France has about 3,600 soldiers serving in the country, mainly in the provinces of Kabul and Kapisa.
President Sarkozy has dispatched Gerard Longuet, Defence Minister, and the hed of the French armed forces to Kabul, where they will conduct a thorough investigation into Friday's attack.
Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland, speaking from Paris, said "depending on the outcome of their inquiry the president will decide" whether to pull out two years earlier than planned or resuming French operations.
Though NATO does not publicly release figures for coalition soldiers killed at the hands of the Afghan soldiers they train and fight alongside, a classified report - A Crisis of Trust and Cultural Incompatibility - obtained by the New York Times shows three dozen attacks against coalition forces by Afghan soldiers since 2007.
An Afghan army colonel, speaking to the US newspaper, described his own soldiers as thieves and drug addicts, but also called the Americans "rude, arrogant bullies who use foul language."
"US soldiers dont listen, they are too arrogant," said one of the Afghan soldiers surveyed, in the report.
Another said: "They get upset due to their casualties, so they take it out on civilians during their searches."
An American soldier was quoted in the same report saying Afghan soldiers "are pretty much gutless in combat; we do most of the fighting".
Helicopter crash
The shooting of the French soldiers marked the culmination of a week of violence, including a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan, killing six American soldiers, on Thursday.
In a brief statement, ISAF said early on Friday that there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the crash on Thursday night.
The cause of the crash is still being investigated, NATO said.
Earlier on Thursday, seven civilians were killed outside a crowded gate at Kandahar Air Field, a base for US and NATO operations, after a suicide attacker set off a vehicle laden with explosives.
Eight people, including two civilians and two Afghan soldiers were wounded in the incident near the entrance of the Kandahar airport, a provincial spokesman, Zalmay Ayoubi, told local Afghan media.
The Taliban claimed responsibility, saying they were targeting a NATO convoy.
It was the second suicide bombing in as many days in southern Afghanistan, officials said. ISAF said no NATO troops were killed. It does not disclose information about injured troops.
France to suspend Afghan troop training - Central & South Asia - Al Jazeera English
