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No plans to reinforce French Afghanistan force: minister
Paris (AFP) Jan 21, 2009 France's defence minister said Wednesday said Paris had no plans to send more troops to Afghanistan, despite plans by US President Barack Obama to step up the pressure on a resurgent Taliban. "As far as France is concerned, we have made the necessary efforts and there is no question, for now, of considering extra reinforcements," Defence Minister Herve Morin told French radio Europe 1. France is the fourth-largest contributor to the international military force in Afghanistan with more than 2,600 troops deployed in the region, mainly around Kabul and in forward bases in the east of the country. Paris has also stationed six Mirage 2000 fighter jets outside the southern city of Kandahar to support US and NATO-led troops on the ground. Last month Morin denied a report that France planned to increase its contingent in the country, but said it would move its troops currently in Kabul as Afghan forces took responsibility for security of the capital. French public opinion is opposed to the mission: more than half of respondents to an opinion poll carried out in August, after 10 paratroopers were killed in combat, called for a withdrawal. The Taliban have threatened attacks in France unless the troops are brought home, and in the run-up to Christmas an unidentified individual demanded a withdrawal after hiding a bundle of dynamite in a Parisian store. The French government is to make a policy statement next Wednesday in parliament on its foreign military operations outside Afghanistan. Morin said France would probably announce a reduction its presence in Ivory Coast, a former French colony where an 1,800-strong French force is deployed to support a UN peacekeeping mission in the country. "There will probably be fewer French forces in Africa, because we probably do not need the same level of troops in Ivory Coast," he said. France currently has 12,900 troops deployed overseas, including 3,000 in Chad and the Central African Republic, 2,000 in Kosovo and 150 in Bosnia. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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Dushanbe (AFP) Jan 21, 2009The United States and NATO are in talks with the central Asian nation of Tajikistan about supply routes of non-military equipment to Afghanistan, the country's foreign minister said Wednesday. |
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