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France has 3,000 troops in Afghanist

A further 21 French soldiers were wounded in the attack - the heaviest loss of troops France has suffered since deploying to Afghanistan in 2002.

The soldiers were part of the Nato-led peacekeeping International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).

President Nicolas Sarkozy will go to Afghanistan shortly, his office says.

News of the deaths is bound to provoke anger back home where around two-thirds of French people say they are opposed to any French involvement in the conflict, the BBC's Emma-Jane Kirby reports from Paris.

But President Sarkozy insisted France remained committed to the fight against terrorism and that the mission in Afghanistan would continue.

'Extremely violent'

The French troops had been caught up in fighting that started on Monday in the area of Sirobi some 50 km (30 miles) east of Kabul.

They were killed "during a joint reconnaissance mission with the Afghan national army", Mr Sarkozy said in a statement.

"Serious measures, notably in the air, were taken to support and extricate our men caught in an extremely violent ambush."

The French leader said his visit to Afghanistan would be to show his support for French troops there.

France has 3,000 troops deployed in Afghanistan. Tuesday's deaths bring to 24 the number killed since 2002, the French news agency AFP reports.

"The French were ambushed in a village after they left the Ozbin valley," an Afghan intelligence officer told the BBC.

"They were ambushed from several directions. The Taleban and al-Qaeda forces used heavy machine guns and other weapons. They fired from mountains and gardens."

The French recently took over control of the Kabul regional command which includes Sirobi.

Wave of attacks

The ambush came amid signs of deteriorating security in Afghanistan.

Taleban fighters have become more active near Kabul

Despite increased security in Kabul, two rockets were fired on the city overnight, landing close to the Isaf headquarters.

In the southern province of Kandahar a Nato patrol was struck by a roadside bomb.

And in the south-eastern province of Khost six suicide bombers were killed while attacking a Nato military base, Camp Salerno, Nato says.

Isaf confirmed that Camp Salerno had been attacked by rockets or mortars, and that a number of suicide bombers had tried to storm the base.

On Monday, nine Afghan civilians were killed when a suicide bomber rammed a car into the gate of the same base.

Isaf said the numbers involved in Tuesday's attack were a lot smaller than the Taleban claimed.

However, the governor of Khost, Arsala Jamal was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying that two children were killed in the fighting and two more, along with a woman, were wounded.