French Army will stay in Afghanistan after withdrawal of NATO troops in 2014 0201121.

Monday, January 2, 2012, 09:33 AM

French armed forces will stay in Afghanistan after withdrawal of coalition troops in 2014, France's Defense Minister Gerard Longuet said on Sunday, January 1, 2012

Longuet told his Tajik counterpart Sherali Khairullaev that the two countries would widen its cooperation in security improvement at the Tajik-Afghan board.

France's airpower forces unit is being based in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe since 2001 to provide services for coalition armed forces in Afghanistan.

The unit included 250 troopers and six Dassault Rafale jet fighters till 2008 when the fighters were redeployed to Kunduz region in northern Afghanistan. Current number of French troopers in Dushanbe equals to 100.