France halts training after Afghan soldier kills 4 French troops Sarkozy, addressing foreign ambassadors in a previously scheduled New Year's ceremony, said the shooting also raises the question of whether France should accelerate the return of all its soldiers engaged in Afghanistan as part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force. Defense Minister Gerard Longuet was dispatched to Afghanistan, Sarkozy said, to demonstrate support for the 3,600-strong French contingent and assess its future role. "The French Army is standing next to its allies, but we cannot accept that even one of our soldiers be killed or wounded by our allies," said Sarkozy, according to the TF1 television station. It is unacceptable. I will not accept it," he said. The attack occurred just hours after military officials reported that a helicopter had crashed in southern Afghanistan, killing six NATO service members. NATO said the cause of the crash was under investigation and that initial reports indicated there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the crash. Taliban officials claimed responsibility for the attack. A defense official in Washington said there was no indication that the U.S. helicopter was hit by enemy fire before it crashed Thursday in Helmand province, killing six Marines, AP reported. The shooting Friday marked the second time in less than a month that French soldiers have been killed by Afghans wearing army uniforms. Two French Foreign Legion troopers were shot and killed Dec. 29 in a mountainous area of Kapisa province, northeast of Kabul. That shooter was immediately gunned down by other French soldiers. Since France dispatched soldiers to assist in the U.S.-led war, 82 French soldiers have been killed, according to the Defense Ministry. Last year was the most costly, with 26 French soldiers killed out of the total of 566 killed in NATO's multinational force. Although the French role in Afghanistan has often been criticized in public debate - particularly since Sarkozy relaxed earlier rules limiting exposure to combat - it has never been seriously brought into question in parliament or by the main opposition group, the Socialist Party. Friday's shooting occurred in the same general area as the earlier casualties. This time, however, the gunman was taken into custody. An Afghan intelligence officer told reporters in Kabul that he was a member of the Afghan armed forces. The Defense Ministry said he was part of an Afghan army detachment stationed in Kapisa province that was about to depart on a joint training and patrol operation with French soldiers. Such operations have become the main role of the French military in Afghanistan, particularly since President Hamid Karzai in November transferred security responsibilities to the Afghan army in some regions of the country. About 400 French soldiers were pulled out of Afghanistan in October, according to a gradual drawdown decided last year at the annual NATO summit. Foreign forces are scheduled to pull out entirely by the end of 2014. Almost of all of the French troops in Afghanistan are based in Kapisa, a relatively peaceful province. Despite the lack of violence, it is considered strategically important because of its potential use as a staging area for attacks on the capital. The French mission in Kapisa, like the war effort overall, has shifted increasingly to the training of Afghan troops, who will inherit the conflict when NATO forces withdraw from Afghanistan. Taliban infiltrators in the Afghan army remain a serious concern for NATO troops, dozens of whom have been targeted by their counterparts during training exercises and joint patrols. Sieff reported from Kabul.