CAMP WAREHOUSE, August 20, 2008 (AFP) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday pledged France's commitment to its mission in Afghanistan as he visited French troops mourning 10 comrades killed in battle.

Sarkozy flew into the capital Kabul early Wednesday with Defence Minister Herve Morin and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in the wake of the deadliest battle for international forces since the Taliban was ousted in 2001.

'I came to tell you that the work that you are doing here is essential,' he told French troops at their base at Camp Warehouse on the outskirts of Kabul.

He visited a morgue where the 10 bodies were held before being repatriated, and spoke to some of the survivors of the fighting, which also left 21 troops wounded.

'The best way to be loyal to your comrades is to continue your work, is to raise your head, to be professional,' he said.

Sarkozy added that despite the shock of the ambush on the French patrol, he was convinced its troops should be in Afghanistan with other nations involved in the fight against Islamist extremists.

'I have no doubt that we must be here. I am also in shock... but I tell you in good conscience that if we had to do it again, I would do it again.

'Not the patrol and the sequence of events, but the choice which led me to confirm the decision of my predecessors to send the French army here.'

A total of 23 French troops have now been killed in action or in accidents in Afghanistan since French soldiers were first sent there in 2002.

'Why are we here? It is because here we play a part in the freedom of the the world. Here we are fighting against terrorism,' Sarkozy said.

'We are not here against the Afghans, but with the Afghans, so they are not left alone to face the barbarism.'

Sarkozy was due later Wednesday to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai for talks.