French Defense Minister heads for Afghanistan after deaths

PanARMENIAN.Net - France's defence minister headed for Afghanistan on Sunday, June 9, hours after an attack that killed four French soldiers and an announcement that the nation would begin withdrawing troops in July, AFP reported.

The attack by a burqa-clad Taliban suicide bomber was the first fatal strike against the French since Francois Hollande took office as president last month, and the head of state said the country would pay "national homage" to the dead.

Speaking after Saturday's attack in eastern Afghanistan, Hollande, who has promised to bring combat troops home by the end of the year, announced the withdrawal would begin next month.

He also asked Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian to head to Afghanistan on Sunday.

Five other troops were wounded in the attack in Nijrab district in Kapisa province, where most of France's 3,500 soldiers in Afghanistan are stationed, officials said. Three were in a critical condition.

Hollande reiterated his vow to withdraw all combat troops by the end of 2012, a year earlier than Paris initially planned, and two years before NATO allies, saying the suicide attack had not changed his plans.