Officials say a suicide bomber has killed five French soldiers in eastern Afghanistan.

Wednesday's attack took place in the Tagab district of Kapisa province. At least one Afghan civilian was also killed when the bomber detonated his explosives near NATO troops.

The deaths come a day after French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Afghanistan and announced his country would pull out 1,000 troops by the end of 2012.

France has about 4,000 troops in Afghanistan.

Violence in the war-torn country is at its worst since U.S.-backed forces ousted the Taliban-led government in 2001.