President Nicolas Sarkozy`s office said the soldier was a lieutenant from the 17th Parachute Engineering Regiment, based in the southwestern French town of Montauban, and that he was killed in Afghanistan`s Kapisa province.
He was the 75th French soldier to die in Afghanistan since allied forces deployed there in late 2001 following the US-backed overthrow of the Taliban.
Around 4,000 French troops are based in the mountainous Kapisa region supporting the NATO-led effort to battle Taliban rebels and to build up and train the forces of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Polls show that French public opinion has turned decisively against the conflict, but Sarkozy has said he is determined to continue to support the mission until other NATO contingents leave in 2014.
Earlier, the French television network TF1 revealed that one of its reporters, Patricia Allemoniere, had been lightly wounded when a French patrol she was accompanying in Afghanistan was ambushed.
It was not clear if she was hurt in the same incident that saw the officer killed. News editor Catherine Nayl said Allemoniere received treatment for superficial cuts to the face after she was caught by flying glass.
(Uu.B002)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
