MONTREAL (AFP) — Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper said it stands by its account of a NATO report that described Taliban forces as better-armed than French soldiers targeted in a deadly ambush last month.
Both NATO and the French military have denied the substance and the existence of any such report, saying the newspaper was referring to a leaked e-mail by an officer who gave a partial account of the incident.
But the Toronto daily said the article was well-sourced and based on a confidential report, not an e-mail.
"The Globe and Mail obtained the report from a trusted source, and checked its authenticity with other sources," Philippe Devos, assistant foreign editor at the Toronto daily, told AFP in an e-mail.
Marked "NATO/ISAF SECRET," the report bears the four pointed blue star symbol for NATO and the green emblem of the International Security Assistance Force, the newspaper said.
The paper on Saturday quoted the report on the deadly August 18 ambush as saying the paratroopers had run out of ammunition after only 90 minutes and had one radio that was quickly knocked out, leaving them unable to call for air support.
Ten French soldiers were killed in the assault. The mountain ambush east of Kabul was the deadliest ground attack on international troops since they were sent to Afghanistan in 2001 to oust the hardline Taliban regime.
The dispute over the newspaper's account came as French lawmakers were to vote Monday on whether to keep 2,600 French troops in Afghanistan.
French Prime Minister Francois Fillon on Monday branded the newspaper' account as "lies and disinformation" and denied there was any loss of radio contact with the troops.
Fillon also announced France will beef up its mission in Afghanistan with more helicopters, drones, intelligence-gathering equipment and about 100 extra troops.
The journalist who wrote the article, Graeme Smith, said the document he obtained was not an e-mail as alleged by French and NATO officials.
"It wasn't an e-mail. It was a paper document that was given to me. It was a NATO review of the events of August 18 and 19," Smith told AFP by telephone from Kabul.
"The source who gave me the document specifically told me not to share it with my other media colleagues" to avoid being identified, he said.
"It's surprising to me that they (NATO) would take this line of response," he wrote earlier to AFP.
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