France''s defence minister confirmed Monday the existence of a NATO officer''s "account" of a deadly ambush of French soldiers last month, after a newspaper cited what it said was a report that said the force was ill-equipped.

Herve Morin told RTL radio the description of the battle in Afghanistan was a "fragmented written account done in the heat of the moment the day after or 48 hours after the operation, using elements at the officer''s disposal."

NATO on Sunday denied the substance of a story in Canada''s national Globe and Mail newspaper that had cited a NATO report marked "secret", which said the French forces were ill-equipped.

The Globe and Mail reported that Taliban fighters who ambushed French soldiers on August 18 were well-trained and better armed than their enemy.

A NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Sunday that an email sent by an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) officer to command HQ in Afghanistan had been leaked.

There had been no official report "but there was email correspondence between an ISAF officer and command HQ in Kabul, in which the officer expressed his personal opinion on what happened during the ambush," the source said.