France threatens to pull out troops from Afghanistan

France suspended its training and combat-support operations in Afghanistan and threatened to pull its troops from the country after an Afghan soldier opened fire on a group of French service members, killing four and seriously wounding eight.

"The French army isn't in Afghanistan to be shot at by Afghan soldiers," President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a speech to diplomats in Paris.

The incident on Friday was the second attack by Afghan forces on French soldiers since late December. Following the attack, Sarkozy dispatched Defense Minister Gérard Longuet and the head of the French army to Afghanistan to conduct a review of security, and said the operations would be on hold until it is completed.

France has nearly 4,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan President Sarkozy announced in July that 1,000 troops would be withdrawn from the country by the end of 2012, ahead of full NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014.

Three weeks ago two members of the French Foreign Legion were shot dead by an Afghan National Army soldier, also in Kapisa province.

Five French soldiers were killed by a suicide bomb while on patrol in the Tagab district of Kapisa in July 2011.

In 2008, 10 French soldiers were killed in a Taliban ambush in the Sarobi area, east of Kabul.

2011 was France's bloodiest year in Afghanistan with the loss of 26 personnel. The risks faced by French forces have increased as the areas of the country where they are stationed have become less stable.

Sarkozy faces re-election this year and the loss of French life in Afghanistan is a highly politically sensitive issue in France.

The socialist challenger for the presidency, Francois Hollande, who is ahead of Sarkozy in opinion polls, has reiterated his position that he would withdraw French troops by the end of the year, if elected.