Nicolas Sarkozy has pledged to send 700 more soldiers to join 1,500 now serving in Afghanistan

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KABUL, Afghanistan - Hundreds of French troops have been deployed to train and mentor Afghan security forces in a key southern province wracked by the Taliban-led insurgency, NATO said yesterday.

Eight Taliban militants were also killed in the south, authorities said.

The troops travelled in 94 vehicles from Kandahar to Uruzgan province Wednesday in what was one of the largest ground military convoys in southern Afghanistan in years, the military alliance said in a statement.

NATO did not provide the exact number of troops deployed, and officials would not specify whether they were being relocated from other areas in Afghanistan or were new to the country.

But France has about 1,500 troops in Afghanistan, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy has pledged to send 700 more soldiers by the end of the year to help NATO-led forces.

The Taliban, who are resurgent in Afghanistan nearly seven years after being ousted from power in a U.S.-led invasion, have frequently clashed with foreign and Afghan troops in Uruzgan.

Underscoring the regions volatility, police clashed with Taliban insurgents in Zhari district of Kandahar province on Wednesday, killing eight militants and wounding seven others, Interior Ministry said in a statement.

NATO commanders and leaders have repeatedly requested more trainers for the fledgling Afghan National Army and police, which are at the center of their counterinsurgency strategy.

The deployed French unit will train and support Afghan army infantry battalions, the alliance said.

Troops that conduct training of the Afghan forces form the core of an alliance strategy that envisages embedding small teams of foreign soldiers with Afghan troops.

Southern Afghanistan remains the centre of the Taliban-led insurgency.