France plans to withdraw around 200 special forces from southern Afghanistan at the start of next year following a recent surge in violence, reported the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche on Sunday. The French Defence Ministry was not immediately available for comment. The French military is participating in various missions in Afghanistan, and the small special forces team has been under US control since 2003 as part of operation Enduring Freedom. Nine French troops have died fighting in Afghanistan, and Le Journal du Dimanche said the relatively high death toll had played a part in the decision to withdraw the forces. The US was also downscaling its Enduring Freedom operation, the newspaper said, adding that some 1,000 French troops deployed around Kabul under NATO control would be staying put. Afghanistan is going through its bloodiest phase since US-led troops drove the Taliban from power after the September 11, 2001, attacks, and NATO has called on its member countries to send in more soldiers to help combat the upsurge in violence. France, however, declined to dispatch more troops last month, saying it already had its hands full with the peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, where it has committed some 2,000 soldiers.