The international community cannot afford to lose the war against terrorism in Afghanistan, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Saturday during a surprise visit to the insurgency-hit country.

The various nations with troops here must be united and committed in their efforts to build Afghanistan so it can withstand insurgents linked with the Taliban and al-Qaida, Sarkozy told reporters traveling with him.

"It is absolutely necessary that Afghanistan does not become a state which falls in the hands of terrorists, as we saw with the Taliban," he said after talks with President Hamid Karzai on his first visit to Afghanistan.