The AP reports:

About 100 insurgents ambushed a group of French paratroopers as they climbed a mountain pass, killing 10 soldiers in a militant stronghold outside the capital. In a separate coordinated attack Tuesday, a team of suicide bombers tried unsuccessfully to storm a U.S. base near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

The death of the French soldiers marked the biggest single combat loss for international forces in Afghanistan in more than three years.

This could stir up French opposition to Nicolas Sarkozy’s bid to boost support for the coalition’s fight in Afghanistan. The French Communist Party, which has been against French involvement from the start, released a statement calling the mission a “reckless and dangerous policy that has bogged France down in Afghanistan.” However, Sarkozy released a statement that sounds frankly inspiring:

My determination is intact. France is determined to continue the struggle against terrorism for democracy and freedom. The cause is just. It is an honour for France and its army to defend it.

And it is an honor to have a genuine and committed French ally.