French forces in Afghanistan were involved in the War in Afghanistan from late 2001, until fully withdrawing by 2014. They operated within two distinct frameworks:
- the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), carried out by NATO on a United Nations mandate
- "Operation Enduring Freedom", under US command, as part of the War on Terror.
French forces have contributed to both chapters in several national operations:
- Opération Pamir with the ISAF,
- Opération Héraklès for the naval and air components
- Opération Épidote for training of the Afghan Army
- Opération Arès for special operations within "Operation Enduring Freedom"
As of 1 November 2009, 4,000 French personnel were deployed in Afghanistan, including the air support of Combined Task Force 150 in the Indian Ocean. Furthermore, 150 gendarmes were deployed in late 2009.
Operations in 2009 alone cost 450 million Euros, amounting to over half the 870 million Euros devoted to military operations abroad. A total of 86 servicemen were killed.[1][2][3]
In January 2012, after an Afghan soldier shot and killed four French soldiers in eastern Afghanistan, French president Nicolas Sarkozy threatened to suspend French operations in Afghanistan due to the fragging incident.[4] The newly elected president François Hollande, announced in June 2012 that he would be withdrawing 2,000 of France's 3,400 troops in Afghanistan, leaving 1,400 for training and logistics.[5] In November 2012, France's combat troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan, leaving just the logistical contingent in the country.[6]
- ^ Number of fatalities among Western coalition soldiers* involved in the execution of Operation Enduring Freedom from 2001 to 2019
- ^ French lost on the website of the "Ministère de la Défense" (French Ministry of Defence)
- ^ Erlanger, Steven; Rubin, Alissa J. (21 January 2012). "France ponders early pullout from Afghanistan". Boston Globe. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
- ^ Steven Erlanger; Alissa J. Rubin (20 January 2012). "France Weighs Pullout After 4 of Its Soldiers Are Killed". New York Times. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
- ^ USA Today, 8 June 2012, Bomber kills 4 French troop in Afghanistan
- ^ "French combat troops withdraw from Afghan war". Reuters. 20 November 2012.