Monday - July 14, 2008

Taliban fighters penetrate US Afghanistan base

I haven’t a clue how or even if the Taliban stories are making the news back home in USA.  Over here, there have been some rather major stories with regard to how sophisticated the Taliban have become.  Their weapons still aren’t up to ours of course, but according to sources here, they are fighting smarter then they have in the past.  The Taliban say one thing they have plenty of is time.  And apparently recruits.

Lets not get too complacent or as bad, too Nazi like in our thinking.  And by that I mean, lets not start to believe that because they are the enemy they aren’t without some smarts.  Or that they’ll be easily defeated simply because we feel superior in so many areas.

Tell ya somethin’ else you all already know.  You don’t see any public protests in that world undermining the Taliban fighter.  And they are very aware of the folks here in the homeland (USA/UK) and the celebrities who say the war is not only illegal but criminal as well.  (referring to Iran) But they carry over that sentiment to their area of Afghanistan.  They firmy believe that all they have to do is NOT QUIT.  Because they have lots of friends in the West.

Taliban fighters penetrate US Afghanistan base to kill nine American troops By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 9:54AM BST 14/07/2008

Taliban fighters breached the defence lines of a small US outpost in eastern Afghanistan in a well-planned attack that killed nine US soldiers, Nato officials have revealed.

The US base is located in Kunar province, a remote and mountainous region along the Pakistani border

An official after-action briefing laid bare Nato commanders’ concerns over a “concerted” attempt to overrun the forward operating base by staging a mass attack involving hundreds of Taliban.

The fighters forced their way into the base during the assault, which was launched before dawn and continued late into the afternoon.

Scores of Taliban were killed after Nato called in attack helicopters and fixed-wing fighter jets to defend the base.

“It was a complex attack, well organised and planned,” said Captain Michael Finney, spokesman for Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

“It was clear they wanted to overrun the combat outpost. They chose their positions well. It wasn’t just an attempt to rush the gate.”

The base, manned by the Afghan army and the US-led ISAF, is located in the mountainous and thickly-forested Pech Valley district of Kunar province, the most lethal region in Afghanistan for American soldiers.

As well as the nine US troops killed in the battle, 15 more were wounded along with four Afghan soldiers.

The sophistication of the attack is a fresh indication of the growing strength of the Taliban and its allies in the area.

The attackers were confident enough to warn local villagers to evacuate during the night.

The area has been described as a key staging area in the hunt for al-Qa’eda leader Osama bin Laden, which has intensified in recent weeks.

News of the attack came during a bloody day for Afghanistan. A suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up in a bazaar in southern Afghanistan, killing 24 people and injuring dozens more.

A man with bombs strapped to his body rammed his motorcycle into a police vehicle at a busy intersection in Uruzgan province, 250 miles southwest of Kabul, killing shopkeepers and young boys selling cigarettes by the side of the road.

The blast came as Nato and Afghan security forces battled militants on several fronts, with the US-led coalition announcing it had killed at least 40 insurgents in an ongoing operation in the volatile southern province of Helmand.

One soldier from the coalition was killed in a bomb blast in Helmand, taking to 133 the number of international troops to lose their lives in Afghanistan this year.

Recent weeks have seen a spike in attacks by militants, most of whom, Afghan officials claim, are recruited and trained in neighbouring Pakistan.

http://tinyurl.com/68jnj7

Posted by Drew458     on 07/14/2008 at 07:31 AM   
Filed Under: • RoPMA • Terrorists • United-Nations • War On Terror • War-Stories •  
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