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France announces withdrawal of 200 special troops

French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie announced yesterday that France would withdraw hundreds of its special forces from Afghanistan within the next few weeks.

"We'll pull our special forces out of Afghanistan in the coming weeks," Alliot-Marie told reporters during her visit to the Afghan capital Kabul.

She was referring to some 200 French special forces stationed in eastern Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, aimed at hunting down Taliban fighters in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

France has deployed a total of 2,000 troops in Afghanistan, with the remainder serving in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Seven members of the French special forces have been killed in action in the war-ravaged country, while 12 others have been wounded since their deployment.

ISAF took command from the US-led troops last month and has more than 30,000 troops.

Ten thousand US-led coalition troops are on the hunt for al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants, especially in southern Afghanistan.

The French special forces contingent is currently based in eastern Nangarhar Province.

Despite being ousted from power, remnants of Taliban and other Islamist allies including those from Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network persist in waging a violent insurgency in parts of the country.

Nearly 4,000 people, many of them rebels, have died this year in the insurgency.

The fighting has entered its bloodiest phase since the toppling of the Taliban.

The regime was ousted following the World Trade Center attacks for failing to hand over bin Laden to US authorities.

The proposed French withdrawal comes at the same time as ISAF commanders face an unexpected Taliban resistance that has led them to demand more troops to be deployed in the south of Afghanistan, where Taliban are most active.
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