KABUL (AFP) — Four Afghan climbers and two French guides will next week attempt to scale Afghanistan's tallest mountain, Noshaq, which has never before been conquered by an Afghan, the team said.

The climbers will set out for the 7,492-metre (24,723-foot) peak on the border with Pakistan on July 1 and hope to reach the summit around 20 days later, guide Louis Meunier told AFP.

"The expedition will enable the first Afghan to climb Noshaq and plant the Afghan flag in a sign of hope for peace," Meunier told AFP.

The mountain is in the Wakhan corridor, a finger of land jutting out of northwestern Afghanistan and part of the mighty Hindu Kush mountain range.

"Maybe it will also inspire other potential travellers to come to the Wakhan, a region spared by the conflict," Meunier said, referring to decades of war that have blighted Afghanistan.

One of the Afghan climbers, Malang Daria, told AFP he estimated his chances of success at 70 percent.

"We are going to plant the Afghan flag ... which will be a proud moment for all Afghans," he said.

In preparation, the team travelled to France to train in mountain-climbing techniques, the 35-year-old said.

They spent nearly a month in the French Alps mastering skills needed to deal with snow, rocks and ice, and to acclimatise to the high altitude, Meunier said. The expedition would be carried out with no oxygen tanks, he said.

"Adaptation to the thin oxygen is very important," said Malang.

While much of Afghanistan is dealing with a bloody Islamist insurgency, in the Wakhan there was no risk for the team, he said.

The climbers would be accompanied to a base camp by about 50 porters, he said.

Noshaq was first conquered by Japanese climbers in 1960 and became a popular climb until the 1979 Soviet invasion that plunged Afghanistan into war.

It is the second highest peak in the Hindu Kush after Tirich Mir, which has an altitude of about 7,700 metres, in Pakistan.

Copyright © 2009 AFP.