French forces in Afghanistan
[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.
Its mandate is to allow it, as resources permit, to support the Afghan Transitional Authority and its successors in the maintenance of security in areas of Afghanistan outside of Kabul and its environs, so that the Afghan Authorities as well as the personnel of the United Nations and other international civilian personnel engaged, in particular, in reconstruction and humanitarian efforts, can operate in a secure environment, and to provide security assistance for the performance of other tasks in support of the Bonn AgreementFrom 21 October 2001, Opération Héraklès came in force, with the deployment of twenty Mirage IVP and twenty C-135FR at the air base of Al Dhafra.
These planes carried out 800 one-hour reconnaissance missions over Afghanistan, after crossing the Sea of Oman and part of Pakistan, until they were drawn back to France on in February 2002.
[9] On 21 November 2001, the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and her battle group were deployed in the Indian Ocean to support NATO operations in Afghanistan.
In March 2002, a rescue unit was created under the name of RESAL (équipe de Recherche Et Secours AéroLarguée) to help pilots should they be downed over Afghanistan.
US President George Bush stated There are many examples of commitment from our good ally, France, who has deployed nearly one-fourth of its army and navy to support Operation Enduring Freedom.
200 men of the Commandement des opérations spéciales operated on the ground from July 2003 to December 2006 near Spin Boldak, and later at Jalalabad.
[14] French Forces sustained their first fatality on 31 August 2004 when corporal Murat Yagci, of the 1er RPIMa, gravely injured two days earlier when his vehicle fell over a cliff, died of his wounds.
The first combat fatalities occurred on 17 September 2005, when a makeshift landmine killed Corporal Cédric Crupel, of the 1er RPIMa, near Spin Boldak.
These losses, the heaviest in France since the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, shocked the public opinion and prompted or accelerated deployment of items requested by the military, particularly drones and tele-operated turrets for VABs.
[19] In March 2009, the French set on the offensive in Kapisa Province, yielding the Battle of Alasay; at the price of one killed, they routed a few hundreds of guerrilla and established two outposts for the Afghan Army.
On 4 October, two soldiers died in an explosion triggered against their convoy; a third, chief sergeant Johann Hivin-Gerard, of the 3e RIMa, succumbed to his wounds four days later.
The total French forces deployed on the theatre of operations, including Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and the Indian Ocean, amounts to 30,000 men.
The French Army has deployed two joint battalions, each comprising three combat companies, and six "Operational Mentoring Liaison Team".
The howitzers deployed in the field can provide fire support to French troops as they operate in neighbouring valleys, complementing the 120mm MO-120-RT-61 mortars that they bring with.
