WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. military in Afghanistan has provided air support to French forces who suffered scores of casualties in a fierce battle with insurgents, Pentagon said on Tuesday.

　　"The U.S. provided close air support to the troops that were in contact," said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman.

　　The French forces were ambushed by about 100 insurgents on Monday when they were on a patrol in a U.S.-controlled sector east of Kabul, leaving 10 killed and 21 others injured, making it the deadliest attack on French troops since 1983.

　　Whitman described the battle "a complex attack involving multiple weapon systems, small arms, mortars, rockets" that lasted for several hours.

　　He said that the deadly attack underscore the need for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and the United States to continue the fight against the Taliban militants, among others, in Afghanistan.

　　U.S. President George W. Bush has offered earlier the day his condolences to families of French slain and injured soldiers.

　　France has 3,000 troops deployed in Afghanistan currently, mostly in the Kabul area and Kapisa Province.