France ends combat operations in Afghanistan After a handover ceremony with Afghan troops, 500 French combat soldiers in trucks and armoured vehicles left the Nijrab base in the Kapisa region, - where anti-government insurgents have been active - and travelled southwest to Kabul, the capital, said Col. Thierry Burkhard, a French military spokesman. "This is the end of combat operations," Mr Burkhard said, adding that the withdrawal went smoothly. It's the end of support operations for the Afghan National Army because we have no more troops who can deploy in such a role. France was once one of the largest contributors to the Nato mission in Afghanistan, with a peak deployment of 4,000 troops - though far smaller than the tens of thousands of US troops there. Since mid-2008, French forces were deployed in Kapisa, a crescent-shaped and strategic region along mountains between Kabul and the Pakistani border. France already pulled out its forces from the neighbouring Surobi district of Kabul province - a less violent area than Kapisa - earlier this year after then-President Nicolas Sarkozy said his country would pull combat troops out ahead of NATO'S 2014 timetable for the US-led combat operation to end. France plans to maintain 1,500 troops in Afghanistan next year, mainly to repatriate equipment deployed during the 11-year French military role as part of the allied intervention in Afghanistan. About 500 will help train and support Afghan forces, and help run Kabul's airport.