PARIS, Dec 2: The first members of a French marine unit blocked in Uzbekistan for two weeks have arrived in Afghanistan, the Defence Ministry said on Sunday.
Forty of an advance party of 58 began securing the airport at Mazar-i-Sharif, in northern Afghanistan, on Saturday as part of a mission to help protect aid shipments, a spokesman said.
“The deployment of French personnel at the Mazar-i-Sharif airport began late in the afternoon on December 1, 2001. The mission of the French unit is to secure the perimeter of the airport while work is under way to repair the runway,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Northern Alliance, which has seized most of Afghanistan from its hardline Islamist Taliban rulers, had opposed allowing foreign troops into the country.
“You can understand the stance of the Afghans (of the Northern Alliance) — they don’t want their victory snatched away from them,” Captain Valery Putz, a France-based spokesman for the unit, said on Sunday.
The ministry statement said the French soldiers would provide security so Mazar-i-Sharif airport can be reopened and used for the transport of aid supplies.
France has backed the US Afghan campaign but stressed that aid must match force. President Jacques Chirac pledged military support hours after US-led forces began pounding Afghanistan but France’s involvement had been limited to intelligence and logistical support.
A Defence Ministry spokesman said US aircraft flew 20 soldiers and 20 technical staff into Afghanistan. A tactical and coordinating command unit of 20 marines remained in Uzbekistan.
French troops left for Afghanistan on November 17 but remained at their base in Uzbekistan waiting for the go-ahead from Uzbek authorities and the Northern Alliance.
Some 300 French troops are earmarked for security and humanitarian aid missions around Mazar-i-Sharif.
France has said it plans to commit some 5,000 troops in all to back the US-led campaign to oust the Taliban and capture Osama bin Laden and members of his al Qaeda network.
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle left on Saturday for the Indian Ocean with some 3,000 naval and air force personnel and 20 combat and reconnaissance aircraft. France has also promised six Mirage 2000 fighter bombers.—Reuters