Four French soldiers die in Afghan incidents

PARIS (Reuters) - Four French soldiers died accidentally in Afghanistan Sunday, with three men killed during a violent storm and a fourth losing his life in an unrelated traffic accident, officials said.

The storm struck when 250 French and Afghan soldiers were moving through the Afghanya valley, just north of Kabul, in a pre-dawn raid against suspected insurgents, the military said.

One soldiers was killed by lightning and another swept away by rapidly rising river waters. The third man drowned while trying to save his friend.

"These three soldiers ... have paid with their life for France's commitment to peace and the security of the Afghan people," French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said in a statement.

Later Sunday, a fourth French soldier died when his amour-plated car fell into a ravine on the road between the Afghan capital, Kabul, and Tora, to the north.

Five others were injured in the crash, some of them seriously, Sarkozy's office said.

"The president has affirmed that what happened today does not alter France's willingness to continue with its engagement in Afghanistan," it said in a statement.

Prior to Sunday, 31 French soldiers had died in action in Afghanistan since the start of operations in 2002.

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Michael Roddy)