French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday pledged to continue the fight in Afghanistan while attending a state funeral in Paris for the 10 French soldiers killed in a Taliban ambush earlier in the week.
Sarkozy, who was accompanied by other French leaders at the funeral ceremony in a church at Les Invalides, said France will not give up its fight against terrorism in Afghanistan.
"We don't have the right to lose over there, we cannot renounce our values," he said.
"We cannot let the barbarians triumph because a defeat at the other side of the world will be paid for by a defeat on the ground of the French Republic."
French President Nicolas Sarkozy places a medal on the coffin of a French soldier killed in Afghanistan during a national funeral held at the Invalides in Paris Aug. 21, 2008. Ten French soldiers were killed and 21 injured as their convoy was ambushed by Taliban militants in Sarobi district near Kabul late Aug. 18. It was the biggest casualties for the international troops stationed in Afghanistan over the past three years. Ten French soldiers were killed and 21 others injured Monday when their patrol was ambushed by Taliban militants in a mountainous region about 50 km east of Kabul, the Afghan capital.
The political impact of the attack remains unclear as the opposition Socialist Party has called for a debate on France's involvement in Afghanistan.
The government is expected to issue a statement on the Afghan deployment on Sept. 22, following the parliamentary debate, a government spokesman said Thursday.
Source:Xinhua
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