Paris - Both houses of the French Parliament will convene in special sessions Monday to debate and vote on the presence of French military forces in Afghanistan.
The vote comes amidst a controversy provoked by the death of 10 French soldiers on August 18 in a firefight with Taliban rebels east of the Afghan capital Kabul.
The publication of a "classified NATO report" in the Canadian daily Globe and Mail Saturday, alleging that the soldiers had been badly equipped, further heated the debate.
According to the putative report, the French soldiers ran out of ammunition after 90 minutes of fighting and had only one radio in their possession, which ceased functioning shortly after the fighting began.