A 24-year-old French soldier was killed in action in Afghanistan, France's presidential office said Saturday, marking the 63rd French soldier to be killed there since 2001.

"/> A 24-year-old French soldier was killed in action in Afghanistan, France's presidential office said Saturday, marking the 63rd French soldier to be killed there since 2001.

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French soldier shot dead in Afghanistan

A 24-year-old French soldier was killed in action in Afghanistan, France's presidential office said Saturday, marking the 63rd French soldier to be killed there since 2001.

Published: 27 June 2011 10:50 CEST

Cyrille Hugodot was shot by an insurgent while carrying out an operation in the northeastern Kapisa province. He is the 63rd member of the French contingent to die there since 2001.

His unit was providing protection to engineers searching for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at the side of the road, spokesman Colonel Thierry Burkhard said.

Hugodot had died of his injuries in hospital in Kabul, he added.

President Nicolas Sarkozy offered his condolences to the serviceman’s family while reaffirming French support for Afghans as the transition process continued, a statement said.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon paid tribute to the “dedication and professionalism” of soldiers engaged in providing security in Afghanistan and aiding its reconstruction.

The circumstances were virtually identical to the incident in which the last soldier killed there died, in the same region on June 18.

Florian Morillon, 20, also belonged to the Pamiers regiment.

Sarkozy announced on Friday that “several hundred” of the 4,000 French troops in Afghanistan would be withdrawn before the end of 2011.

The president said he shared US President Barack Obama’s belief that security had improved since the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and that the handover to Afghan troops and police was taking place smoothly.

A group of Afghan nationals stand on the tarmac after disembarking from the last Spanish evacuation flight at the Torrejon de Ardoz air base near Madrid in August. Photo: PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP)

A group of Afghan nationals stand on the tarmac after disembarking from the last Spanish evacuation flight at the Torrejon de Ardoz air base near Madrid in August. Photo: PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP)

The government source declined to give any details of the move, citing security concerns.

But Spanish media, including daily El País and National Radio, reported that Madrid would bring close to 250 Afghan citizens, who had already crossed into Pakistan and would be flown out on military transport planes.

The first flight was expected to arrive on Monday evening.

Spain’s evacuations have been weeks in the making, with Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares visiting Pakistan and Qatar in early September to lay the groundwork.

Madrid evacuated over 2,000 people, most of them Afghans who had worked for Spain and their families, during the western withdrawal as the Taliban seized power in Kabul in August.

But the flights had to stop once the final American troops that had been protecting the Afghan capital’s airport left.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in August that Spain would not “lose interest in the Afghans who had remained” in their country but wanted to leave.

The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, on Friday urged the bloc’s member states to host a “minimum” of between 10,000 and 20,000 more Afghan refugees.

“To welcome them, we have to evacuate them, and we’re getting down to it, but it’s not easy,” he said in Madrid.

The EU has said a demand by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to take in 42,500 Afghan refugees over five years can be achieved — although any decision lies with member states.

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