NATO denies airstrike hit French troops

BRUSSELS, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- NATO says it disputes a report in a French newspaper that says French soldiers fighting in Afghanistan earlier this week were hit by NATO airstrikes.

CNN reported Thursday that 10 soldiers and 21 were wounded in combat near Kabul.

NATO said in a statement Thursday that "the planes supplying close air support could not engage because French troops were very close to Taliban insurgents and if they had engaged there may have been considerable collateral damage if the bombs had been used."

NATO called allegations published in Le Monde newspaper Wednesday that one of its airstrikes hit the French soldiers "unfounded."

"The NATO airstrikes that were supposed to allow the soldiers under assault to get out of the trap, according to the wounded, missed their target and hit French soldiers, along with other shots fired from Afghan soldiers positioned below," the newspaper reported.

French Gen. Jean-Louis Georgelin said Wednesday that the deaths occurred in the first few minutes of the

Taliban attack, which seems to rule out the airstrike as being the cause of the deaths, but not necessarily the injuries.