French troops head for Mazar

French troops will help secure Mazar-e-Sharif for aid

An advance party of French troops is on its way to Afghanistan to pave the way for humanitarian aid deliveries to the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

A group of nearly 60 soldiers left southern France on Friday for Turkey's Incirlik air base. From there they are flying on to Uzbekistan on Saturday, before deploying in Afghanistan.

Let us make no mistake about it, the battle for the eradication of terrorism will be long

French President Jacques Chirac

They are expected to be followed by a further 300 troops after assessing the safety of the situation on the ground.

The aid agency Medicins Sans Frontiers has said security inside Mazar appears to be improving after heavy fighting and looting following the city's capture by the Northern Alliance.

France, which has 2,000 military personnel in the region, including naval and air force units, has already provided logistical and intelligence support for the US-led campaign in Afghanistan.

Defence Minister Alain Richard said on Saturday that France would send eight Mirage fighter jets to join the military operation "within weeks".

The advance party, consisting mainly of engineers and paratroopers, will establish a security base in Mazar-e-Sharif, captured by the Northern Alliance a week ago.

One of the group's tasks will be to protect US and Arab teams that will clear mines around Mazar, said Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Bordachar.

German troops

As the French contingent took off on Friday, the German parliament narrowly approved the government's decision to deploy almost 4,000 troops in the region.

UK troops are at Bagram air base north of Kabul

However, the German soldiers will not enter Afghanistan itself.

One hundred British Royal Marine Commandos flew in to the Bagram air base north of Kabul on Thursday.

Their job is to prepare the ground for further military deployments and cargo planes bringing in food and other humanitarian supplies.

Relief organisations have warned of a humanitarian disaster in the making in Afghanistan, with the harsh winter looming and more than three million people dependent on aid to survive.

Speaking on French television, French President Jacques Chirac said the military campaign must be accompanied by political and humanitarian action.

He called on Western democracies to be "generous" in the longer term.

Stressing that there is no justification for terrorism, Mr Chirac said: "How can one not be aware that misery, despair and humiliation can supply fertile terrain? These events must lead us to re-think the relations between peoples."