PARIS, August 19, SPA -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy hasconfirmed that 10 French soldiers were killed and 21wounded during a reconnaissance mission in Afghanistan. Sarkozy says he will go to Kabul on Tuesday night toassure French troops «that France is at their sides. » He says the parachutists of the 8th infantry parachuteregiment were killed in clashes Monday during a missionwith the Afghan army outside Kabul. The president's statement says French aviation withsupport from NATO allies eventually pushed back the Afghanmilitants. It was the highest French military death toll in an attacksince clashes in Bouake, Ivory Coast in 2004, the Associated Press reported.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/583263