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Francois Mori / AP
France's President Francois Hollande, left, attends a funeral ceremony for four French soldiers killed in Afghanistan at Les Invalides in Paris on June 14, 2012.
Msnbc.com news services report — France's President Francois Hollande paid his respects during a solemn funeral ceremony for four French soldiers killed in Afghanistan in Paris on Thursday.
In the courtyard of the site of Napoleon's grave, the domed Invalides, Hollande decorated each of the coffins with a starred medal on a red ribbon, honoring the four posthumously as Knights of the Legion of Honor, France's highest award.
Veiled suicide bomber kills four French soldiers in Afghanistan
Offering condolences to the soldiers' families after they were killed on Saturday, Hollande restated his plan to withdraw all French combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2012.
Martin Bureau / AFP - Getty Images
Francois Hollande places a Legion d'honneur medal on one of the coffins in the Invalides courtyard in Paris on June 14, 2012.
Baz Ratner / Reuters
More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.