Five French soldiers killed in Afghanistan suicide attack
France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy aboard a helicopter in Kabul, Afghanistan, on July 12, 2011, during a surprise visit to meet troops stationed in Sarobi district.
Five French soldiers and an Afghan civilian were killed Wednesday in a suicide bomb attack in eastern Afghanistan, according to the Elysée Palace.
The attack took place in Kapisa province, where most of Nato's French troops are stationed.
A police official in the Kapisa district of Tagab, where the attack took place, said a suicide bomber had detonated the bomb in front of a French military convoy, at about 11:25am local time, reported Agence France Presse.
Meanwhile France Info radio said the French soldiers had been protecting local tribal areas when they died.
An Afghan policeman is also understood to have been injured in the attack.
The office of French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a statement:
A terrorist set off a bomb close to the soldiers wounding four other French soldiers seriously and three Afghan civilians.
Sarkozy paid a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Tuesday, where he announced that 1000 French troops would leave by the end of 2012.
Wednesday's attack comes after eight people were killed by a suicide bomber at a police academy in Kapisa, in an incident claimed by the Taliban.
According to AFP, the latest deaths bring this year's toll to 306 foreign troops killed in Afghanistan.