France pulls troops out of key Afghanistan province

The French army withdrew troops from the key Afghan province of Kapisa on Tuesday, winding down its combat mission to the war-torn country amid an increase in deadly insider attacks.

President François Hollande at the Kapisa military base in Afghanistan Reuters / Joel Saget

Four hundred French troops left the province north-east of Kabul as part of a sped-up departure ordered by President François Hollande, following his election earlier this year.

The soldiers have occupied the Nijrab base which stands where key transit routes from Pakistan to the Afghan capital intersect since 2008.

RFI/Anthony Terrade

The mission has accounted for 60 of the 88 French losses in Afghanistan.

In January five French troops were shot dead by an Afghan soldier whilst jogging at the base in Kapisa.

Of the 2,200 French soldiers left in Afghanistan about 700 will return home by the end of the year while the remaider will organise the final departure of French troops in 2013.

About 4,700 Afghan police and soldiers will now look after Kapisa's security with the support of 250 American soldiers.

The French pullout comes two years before the 100,000-strong International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) led by the United States is due to depart.

Concerns have been raised over the readiness of the Afghan army to defend the nation from Islamists but the French commander in Kapisa, General Eric Hautecloque-Raysz, is optimistic.

"The insurgency is 10 times less numerous than the [Afghan] security forces. Therefore, they cannot be beaten," he said.

"The Afghan soldiers have made a lot of progress, the French military keep telling us," explains RFI reporter in Kapisa. "But these soldiers will have to face up to a situation that in the Alasay and Tagab valleys, is sometimes still delicate. Clashes continue with a few days ago attacks with improvised explosive devices."

The Taliban have urged other foreign forces to leave the country.

"We urge the others to follow France and leave Afghanistan, end the occupation of Afghanistan and leave the fate of the country to Afghans themselves," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed said.

Around 1,500 French soldiers will stay into 2013 to take responsibility for repatriating equipment and training the Afghan army to take over.