An emotional President Sarkozy today insisted that there would be no French wobble over Afghanistan, telling troops in Kabul to fight with fresh resolve after the loss of 10 comrades in one of the deadliest battles there.

Mr Sarkozy, pale and shaken after inspecting the coffins of the young French servicemen, voiced his defiance as the opposition and media questioned his wisdom in sending more troops into what is widely seen as an unwinnable war. François Hollande, the Socialist party leader, said that France "must be told what exactly our soldiers are doing in Afghanistan and how long they will be doing it for."

Survivors of Monday's six-hour battle, on a steep hillside 30 miles east of Kabul, also complained of command errors, including a lack of air support.

Soldiers sang: "They've killed our adored little brother," a tune of the Chad March regiment, one of the units involved, as Mr Sarkozy talked with the 21 wounded paratroopers and survivors of the ambush by about 100 Taliban fighters.

"I have seen among you some people crying. I understand," he said. "I have told you that I share your pain and these are not just words...The best way of remaining faithful to your comrades is to continue the work," he went on. "I don't have any doubt that have to be here."

"A part of the world's freedom is at stake here. This is where the fight against terrorism is being waged," he said. "We are with the Afghans so as not to leave them alone in the face of barbarity."

Mr Sarkozy flew to Kabul, along with two ministers and forces chiefs within hours of the worst single battle losses by French troops since the end of the Algerian independence war in 1962.

The President's tough language was designed to be a response to critics who opposed his decision last April to send 700 combat troops to expand France's share of the Nato-led Afghan operation to 3,800. That was a shift from of an election pledge last year to bring the French contingent home as soon as possible.

This week's losses have also gone down badly among senior military officers who distrust Mr Sarkozy's expertise and more broadly blame him for poor morale and a shortage of equipment in the armed forces.

Only the parties of the left and right-wing fringe have opposed France's participation since 2001 in what is widely seen as a just war against terrorism. However, Mr Sarkozy's expansion of the French effort last spring was opposed by the Socialists and by about 60 percent of the public. It was deemed unwise at a time that the west seemed to be bogged down in what many see as a quagmire.

The Socialists did not call for a pull-out today but they demanded an urgent meeting of parliamentary committees to review Afghan strategy. "The war seems to be changing in nature," said a party spokesman. "The question is not about whether to fight terrorism and fundamentalism, but whether the strategy is right."

Most media commentators said that the deaths did not cast doubt on the purpose of a mission that Libération, the anti-Sarkozy left-wing newspaper, called a "tragic necessity". But they questioned the approach. Le Figaro, which strongly backs the President, wondered: "The objectives may be just, but is the strategy the right one?"

Doubts also came from Mr Sarkozy's own centre-right camp. Pierre Lellouche, an MP who is chairing a parliamentary report on Afghanistan, said that NATO's strategy "was failing, both on the political and the military level" and must be overhauled.

Voicing a common view, Olivier Roy, a Central Asia expert, said: "We can neither win militarily nor leave." He called on the United States to negotiate with less fundamentalist Taliban leaders as they had had done with Sunni insurgent chiefs in Iraq.

Survivors reported bungling in the Afghan battle in Le Monde. Commanders failed to send reinforcements for four hours when the reconnaissance patrol was pinned down on the hillside, they said.

"We didn't have any more ammunition to defend ourselves except our Famas (assault rifles)" said one wounded soldier.

Air support when it eventually arrived missed the Taleban target and hit French and other allied forces said Le Monde.

"There were snipers among the Taleban, who were more numerous than us and were lying in wait. We could hear them reloading," said a survivor.

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