PARIS, Sept 22: France has announced it will beef up its mission in Afghanistan with helicopters, drones and other military means amid debate over whether the French soldiers were poorly equipped.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon on Monday told lawmakers that France had “learned the lessons” from the Taliban ambush that left 10 soldiers dead and 21 wounded, the country’s worst military losses in 25 years.

“We have decided to strengthen our military means in the areas of air mobility, intelligence and support,” Mr Fillon said at the opening of a debate on whether to keep French troops in Afghanistan.

The prime minister said mortars and 100 additional troops would also be deployed and the reinforcements would be in place in a few weeks.

But Fillon denied a report in Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper that the 30 French soldiers were no match for the Taliban fighters who were better equipped and trained when they attacked the French forces on Aug 18.

The newspaper quoted a secret Nato report saying that the paratroopers had run out of ammunition after only 90 minutes and had only one radio that was quickly knocked out, leaving them unable to call in air support.

“The reality is cruel enough without adding lies and disinformation,” he said.

Both Nato and the French military denied the existence of any such report, saying the newspaper was referring to a leaked email sent by an officer to Nato command in Kabul that gave a partial account of the ambush.

Both houses of parliament were to vote later Monday on whether to maintain the 2,600-strong French contingent in Afghanistan, one of the largest serving in the Nato-led mission there.

With President Nicolas Sarkozy’s right-wing party holding a strong majority in both houses, parliament was all but certain to support the mission and easily override opposition from the Socialist Party.

Socialists planned to vote against keeping French troops in Afghanistan to press demands for ‘clarifications’ on France’s strategy in the increasingly violent country, said party spokesman Bruno Le Roux.

About 70,000 international troops – 40,000 of them under Nato command – are helping Afghans fight the Taliban.

Prime Minister Fillon called on Pakistan to “do more” to secure control over the border areas near Afghanistan and said France wanted to “broaden its political and security relations” with Islamabad.—AFP