Sarkozy Weighs Afghan Withdrawal After Soldier Kills 4 French Troops
By ALISSA J. RUBIN and ALAN COWELL
Published: January 20, 2012
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KABUL, Afghanistan — President Nicolas Sarkozy of France suspended military operations as part of the American-led coalition in Afghanistan and said he was considering an early pullout of his nation’s forces after a man in Afghan Army uniform shot and killed four French soldiers.
It was the second fatal attack in a month involving an Afghan soldier opening fire on French troops and came at a time when United States forces are deeply concerned about increasing numbers of killings of American and other allied forces by the Afghan soldiers they fight alongside and train.
The four French service members were killed and a number were wounded on Friday when a gunman wearing an Afghan National Army uniform turned his weapon on them, according to an Afghan police official in Kapisa Province in eastern Afghanistan where the incident occurred and a Western official in Kabul, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. The Afghan police official, Asdullah Hamidi, said the shooting happened in Tagab District, an area that is viewed as dangerous and dominated by insurgent forces.
The gunman is in custody, a NATO official said.
The attack prompted President Sarkozy to tell French diplomats at an annual meeting in Paris on Friday that he had ordered the suspension of training and combat operations by French forces in Afghanistan.
“If security conditions are not established clearly, then the question of an early return of the French Army will be asked,” he said. He added: “It is a difficult decision that we will have to take in the coming days.”
But, he went on, the decision was one he felt he had to make “for the French people and our soldiers.” Much of President Sarkozy’s public behavior at present is perceived by analysts through the prism of presidential elections beginning in April and he can ill afford to be depicted as anything less than robust and decisive in defending French interests.
While the French contingent of some 3,600 soldiers is vastly outnumbered by the dominant American military presence, its withdrawal would present a damaging psychological blow to the alliance and would be presented by the Taliban insurgents as a significant blow against coalition morale.
The bulk of the French contingent is based in troubled eastern Afghanistan. Of non-American forces contributing to the alliance, only the British and the Germans have more troops on the ground.
Like other allied forces, French troops had been scheduled to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2014
Mr. Sarkozy said he would send both his defense minister, Gérard Longuet, and the head of the armed forces, Adm. Edouard Guillaud, to Afghanistan and “until then all training operations and combat help from the French forces are suspended.”
“The French Army is at the side of its allies, but we cannot accept that a single one of our soldiers be killed or wounded by our allies,” Mr. Sarkozy said. “It is unacceptable. I will not accept it.”
The killing of the French soldiers raised the tally for a particularly bloody day for allied forces after a helicopter crashed late on Thursday, killing six more members of the international force. French forces suffered their worst casualties of the decade-old Afghanistan war last year when 26 soldiers died.
The French have lost 82 soldiers including Friday’s casualties, according toicasualties.org, a Web site which tracks coalition deaths. The majority were killed in Kapisa Province, the same province in eastern Afghanistan as where Friday’s shooting occurred. It was not clear whether they were on a training mission at the time.
Alissa J. Rubin reported from Kabu, Afghanistan, and Alan Cowell from London.
Published: January 20, 2012
===================================================
KABUL, Afghanistan — President Nicolas Sarkozy of France suspended military operations as part of the American-led coalition in Afghanistan and said he was considering an early pullout of his nation’s forces after a man in Afghan Army uniform shot and killed four French soldiers.
It was the second fatal attack in a month involving an Afghan soldier opening fire on French troops and came at a time when United States forces are deeply concerned about increasing numbers of killings of American and other allied forces by the Afghan soldiers they fight alongside and train.
The four French service members were killed and a number were wounded on Friday when a gunman wearing an Afghan National Army uniform turned his weapon on them, according to an Afghan police official in Kapisa Province in eastern Afghanistan where the incident occurred and a Western official in Kabul, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. The Afghan police official, Asdullah Hamidi, said the shooting happened in Tagab District, an area that is viewed as dangerous and dominated by insurgent forces.
The gunman is in custody, a NATO official said.
The attack prompted President Sarkozy to tell French diplomats at an annual meeting in Paris on Friday that he had ordered the suspension of training and combat operations by French forces in Afghanistan.
“If security conditions are not established clearly, then the question of an early return of the French Army will be asked,” he said. He added: “It is a difficult decision that we will have to take in the coming days.”
But, he went on, the decision was one he felt he had to make “for the French people and our soldiers.” Much of President Sarkozy’s public behavior at present is perceived by analysts through the prism of presidential elections beginning in April and he can ill afford to be depicted as anything less than robust and decisive in defending French interests.
While the French contingent of some 3,600 soldiers is vastly outnumbered by the dominant American military presence, its withdrawal would present a damaging psychological blow to the alliance and would be presented by the Taliban insurgents as a significant blow against coalition morale.
The bulk of the French contingent is based in troubled eastern Afghanistan. Of non-American forces contributing to the alliance, only the British and the Germans have more troops on the ground.
Like other allied forces, French troops had been scheduled to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2014
Mr. Sarkozy said he would send both his defense minister, Gérard Longuet, and the head of the armed forces, Adm. Edouard Guillaud, to Afghanistan and “until then all training operations and combat help from the French forces are suspended.”
“The French Army is at the side of its allies, but we cannot accept that a single one of our soldiers be killed or wounded by our allies,” Mr. Sarkozy said. “It is unacceptable. I will not accept it.”
The killing of the French soldiers raised the tally for a particularly bloody day for allied forces after a helicopter crashed late on Thursday, killing six more members of the international force. French forces suffered their worst casualties of the decade-old Afghanistan war last year when 26 soldiers died.
The French have lost 82 soldiers including Friday’s casualties, according toicasualties.org, a Web site which tracks coalition deaths. The majority were killed in Kapisa Province, the same province in eastern Afghanistan as where Friday’s shooting occurred. It was not clear whether they were on a training mission at the time.
Alissa J. Rubin reported from Kabu, Afghanistan, and Alan Cowell from London.
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