French Soldier Killed, Several Injured in Security Incidents in Afghanistan

A French soldier was killed and another wounded Tuesday in a firefight during a joint operation with the Afghan army in Kapisa province, the French presidency and prime minister's office said.

A statement from Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault's office said the casualties were sustained "during a clash with insurgents" and that the wounded soldier was expected to survive.

The statement said the soldiers were from the elite 13th Chasseurs Alpin Battalion. The dead soldier was "part of an assistance team advising Afghan units," a statement from President Francois Hollande's office said.

A total of 88 French soldiers have died in Afghanistan since they first deployed there in 2001.

French forces are now deployed only in Kabul and in Kapisa, an extremely unstable eastern province where French troops have suffered numerous deadly attacks from the Taliban.

The French military in July handed control of Kapisa to local forces, but French soldiers continue to help train them as preparations for the pullout go ahead

Also Tuesday, a powerful suicide truck bomb exploded at a NATO military base south of the Afghan capital, wounding three soldiers and at least 17 civilians, Afghan police said.

Provincial police chief Ghulam Sakhi Rogh Lewanai told Agence France Presse: "A truck loaded with explosives detonated at the coalition forces' camp in (the provincial capital) Puli Alam city.

"So far we have information that 17 Afghan civilians and three International Security Assistance Force soldiers have been injured," he said.

Most of the civilians worked at the base, he said. ISAF said the explosion was outside the base, near an Afghan bazaar.