By ELAINE GANLEY
The Associated Press
Wednesday, December 20, 2006; 2:15 PM
PARIS -- As violence mounts in Afghanistan, France is pulling 200 of its best soldiers out. But military officials here insist France remains fully committed, with 1,100 troops still based in Kabul.
Nevertheless, France's decision to withdraw its Special Forces comes amid concerns in Paris that NATO's mission in Afghanistan has grown confused and that the alliance may be overreaching in its efforts to stabilize and rebuild the nation.
French officials and experts say that as fighting in Afghanistan has dragged on and the insurgency has grown in strength, the special forces were no longer ideal for the mission. Such elite units tend to be more lightly armed, and specialize in gathering intelligence or rapid attacks.
"The conditions no longer correspond to what the special forces do," said Capt. Christophe Prazuck, a spokesman for the French Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The French elite troops _ deployed in southeastern Afghanistan since July 2003 _ were France's contribution to a U.S. anti-terror mission code-named Operation Enduring Freedom that is separate from the NATO mission.
Seven of the 10 French troops killed in Afghanistan since 2003 were special forces. The soldiers combed the border with Pakistan for al-Qaida and Taliban fighters and looked for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. Long based in Spin Boldak, a southern border town in Kandahar, the French rebased this year to Jalalabad in the east and are now expected home in January.
Enduring Freedom has been trimmed as NATO's International Security Assistance Force has evolved. By October, the NATO force's 32,800 troops became the prime fighting force, moving into special forces' terrain in Taliban-infested southern and eastern regions.
U.S. commanders say the work of special forces soldiers is still critical in Afghanistan, whether it's small-group reconnaissance missions, mentoring Afghan soldiers or supporting conventional NATO and Afghan troops in combat.
But State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the French pullout was understandable. France is heavily committed elsewhere in places like Lebanon and Africa.
"They have numerous other responsibilities around the globe where their military forces are deployed as peacekeepers, so we understand that there are other demands on these kind of particular forces," McCormack said.
Other countries have quietly pulled special forces from Afghanistan. Australia said in September that it was withdrawing some 200 commandos and Special Air Service Regiment troops. Germany has had special forces in Afghanistan, but Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said none have been there since he took office in late 2005.
And while pulling out its elite troops, France is strengthening its commitment in other areas, maintaining Mirage jet fighters in neighboring Tajikistan and beefing up its mission to help Afghanistan form its own special forces, adding another 20 French trainers.
Paris also has agreed that its 1,100 soldiers in the Afghan capital, Kabul, can be used as reinforcements for NATO combat missions. That concession came at a NATO summit last month where all 26 member states agreed to aid each other in emergencies in Afghanistan.
However, a senior French defense official said any response by Kabul-based French forces would be "prompt and temporary" _ with decisions made in Paris on a case-by-case basis.
France has been lukewarm about the decision to dovetail the NATO mission with Operation Enduring Freedom.
"There is strong skepticism about the relevance of NATO in Afghanistan if it is not for stabilization and rebuilding of the country," said Francois Gere, head of the French Institute of Strategic Analysis, a think tank. "If it is for waging nasty guerrilla warfare, there is no appetite in France and, I think, most European countries."
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Associated Press Writer John Leicester in Paris contributed to this report.
