KABUL, Aug 19: Ten French Nato soldiers were killed in a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan, officials said on Tuesday, the deadliest ground attack on foreign troops here since the US-led war was launched in 2001.

The shock ambush also left 21 French troops wounded, and prompted French President Nicolas Sarkozy to announce he would immediately head to the country, where recent monthly death tolls for foreign occupation forces have topped those for Iraq.

News of the attack came as the resurgent Taliban attempted a mass suicide attack on a US military base, in a defiant reminder that tens of thousands of international troops have not been able to keep the Afghan militants at bay.

“Yesterday 10 of our soldiers ... were killed in Afghanistan, 21 others were wounded during a joint reconnaissance mission with the Afghan national army,” Sarkozy said in a statement issued in Paris.

“In its struggle against terrorism, France has just been hit hard.” The ambush took place in the district of Sarobi, just 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of Kabul, which has been increasingly targeted by the Afghan Taliban.Around 100 Afghan militants attacked a patrol of French and Afghan troops, said Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), under which about 3,000 French soldiers serve.

The fighting began on Monday and lasted into Tuesday, it said in a statement.

“The initial patrol was reinforced with quick reaction forces, close air support and mobile medical teams. During the engagement a large number of insurgents were killed,” Isaf said.

“There was fierce fighting throughout the night,” said Afghan defence ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi. He said at least 13 Taliban fighters had been killed in the clashes.

The Taliban said it had attacked invading Isaf troops in Sarobi and blown up several vehicles. “We have inflicted heavy casualties,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed told AFP.

Sarkozy, due to arrive in Afghanistan early Wednesday, said his trip to Kabul would be to reassure French troops serving in the Nato force that “France is at their side.” Britain and Canada, other nations which have suffered heavy losses in Afghanistan, were quick to pay tribute to the French soldiers.

In a strong reaction, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said the attack was “a disgraceful and barbaric act.” The latest deaths brought to 176 the number of international soldiers killed in Afghanistan this year, most of them in attacks.

In the eastern town of Khost meanwhile, Isaf and Afghan troops thwarted an attack on Camp Salerno, the biggest US military base in eastern Afghanistan.

About 30 fighters tried to storm Salerno, Khost province governor Arsala Jamal told AFP, but Isaf said they were stopped about 1,000 metres from the camp.—AFP