The French parliament is due to vote in a few hours to decide whether to keep French troops in Afghanistan.
Ten French soldiers were killed near Kabul in August in one of the deadliest attacks on foreign troops.
Reports say a stormy debate is expected but parliament is likely to support maintaining the French presence.
Meanwhile, a report at the weekend in Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper said the French were "woefully unprepared" and "surprised France frees sailors from pirates ...
Sarkozy visits soldiers after Afghan attack ...
France rejects veiled Muslim wife ... by well-armed" Taleban.
A total of 24 French troops have been killed in Afghanistan since 2002 and many French people say their country has no place in the Afghan conflict.
In April this year President Nicolas Sarkozy announced he was sending another battalion of almost 800 soldiers to north-east Afghanistan, taking the number of French troops there to 2,600.
The August deaths have sparked a debate over Mr Sarkozy's decision to boost the number of troops.
Although Mr Sarkozy insists that France is fighting a battle against terror in Afghanistan, many French people feel they have just been sucked into America's war, correspondents say.
'Better armed'
Meanwhile, a report in Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper, quoting a "secret" Nato document, said the Taleban insurgents were better armed and prepared than the French troops.
"The French did not have enough bullets, radios and other equipment. The troops were forced to abandon a counter-attack when the weapons on their vehicles ran out of ammunition only 90 minutes into a battle that stretched over two days," the paper said, quoting from the report.
"One French platoon had only a single radio and it was quickly disabled, leaving them unable to call for help," it added.
Nato and French officials denied that such a report existed.
"We were always able to respond to Taleban fire. Supplies were flown in by helicopter during the fighting that lasted nine hours," news agency AFP quoted French armed forces chief of staff spokesman Captain Christophe Prazuck as saying.
"I am in a position to say that there is no such report, either from Nato or from [the Nato-led] Isaf," the agency quoted alliance spokesman James Appathurai in Brussels.
Earlier this month, French magazine Paris Match carried an interview with a Taleban leader "Commander Farouki" who claimed that they were tipped off about the French mission in their area.
The magazine also carried pictures of guns, walkie-talkies and even a wrist-watch - all spoils taken from the 10 killed soldiers.
The images shocked and outraged many in France.
(BBC)
<< Back