The head of the French military, General Jean-Louis Georgelin, met Thursday with his troops in Afghanistan less than three weeks after 10 French soldiers were killed in a Taliban ambush.
  
Georgelin arrived in the country Wednesday and spent the night at the Tora base in the Sarobi district about 65 kilometres (40 miles) east of Kabul, a French military official said on condition of anonymity.
  
An ambush followed by intense fighting in Sarobi on August 18 and 19 left 10 French soldiers dead and 21 wounded.
  
It was the deadliest ground fighting for international troops since they arrived in 2001 to oust the Taliban regime and the heaviest toll for the French military in 25 years.
  
Georgelin met Wednesday with US General David McKiernan, commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in which about 3,000 French soldiers serve, the official said.
  
On Thursday he travelled to French bases in Kapisa province, adjoining Kabul.
  
French news weekly Paris Match published on Thursday an interview with a Taliban commander who claimed to have led the August 18 ambush.
  
The man, identified as Commander Faruki, said he headed a group of 28 men and threatened to kill all French troops unless they left Afghanistan.
  
The weekly published photographs of the fighters, their faces masked, one of whom wore a French army uniform, another a French bullet-proof vest and helmet, while two others carried assault rifles used by the French forces.
  
The attack shocked France, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy travelling to Afghanistan immediately afterwards, and prompted calls for more reconnaissance and intelligence gathering in operations.