Posted on 07/13/2008 10:16:53 AM PDT by kristinn
At least eight US soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan in clashes with Taleban militants.
US commander Daniel Dwyer told the BBC the soldiers had been killed in clashes in the north-east of the country.
The BBC's Martin Patience in Kabul says it is one of the biggest single losses in a day for the coalition since the start of military operations there.
The attack came as international and Afghan security forces battled militants on several fronts.
On Sunday, US forces said 40 insurgents had been killed in Helmand province in the past 24 hours.
There are conflicting reports as to where the latest attack took place.
A foreign military spokesman said US soldiers and members of the Afghan National Army came under attack in Kunar province, near the border with Pakistan.
But Afghan officials insist the fighting took place in neighbouring Nuristan Province.
Nato reported that a small American Combat Outpost in Dara-I-Pech district of Kunar Province, came under heavy fire at around 04.30 local time.
It said insurgents had fired "with small arms, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars using homes, shops and the mosque in the village of Wanat for cover."
Local officials say a number of civilians and militants were killed in the attack.
Our correspondent says there are frequent attacks in the area.
In a separate incident on Sunday, a suicide bomber killed at least 21 people, many of them children, in a market in the Deh Rawud district of Uruzgan province.
You are right, the terrain is very difficult. We expect a lot from our Military and they are performing brilliantly.
: )
Thank you. The description kind of reminds me of Zulu.
I have no real desire to get in a food fight with you but I will say I care about a lot of people especially some who may be reading these threads and planning to enlist at some point in the future. Instinct takes times to develop. There's only so much that can be learned in two and a half months of basic training. Who knows, a few years from now, some soldier may live because something in the back of his mind told him not to bunch up or not to move about predictably etc, etc, etc.
I can assure you that the troops in the Kunar have much more than 2 1/2 months of basic training - these troops are not just out of boot camp.
as for 'bunching up' - They were on a little shelf on a mountainside that they had just pickaxed out = and perched there rather like mountain goats- not a lot of room for maneuvering in any direction when suddenly set upon from all sides by what is now being reported of up to 300 -
I guess my problem is that you don't seem to know enough about the terrain, the firebases in the Kunar, the small units, the pattern of the firefights there etc., to be making judgments about what they may have done wrong and the amount of training they have had.
I wasn't there so I can't say for certain - but I do know a lot of what they have been going through there...and I don't like to see speculation about what they may have done wrong -
This small unit beat back a massive attack - they took out 4 times as many enemy...
They lost 9 and many more injured - that would pretty much cover the whole unit. Pretty traumatic. They are heroes -
I would hope anyone speculating on where they may have gone wrong, hold the comments until the story comes out...we won't hear any more until the families have been notified.
http://www.dawn.com/2008/07/15/top2.htm
in the meantime, the Pakis refuse to do anything to stop the free flow of the talies across the border to attack and scoot back to safety in Pakistan - indeed, the Paki military also acts as spotters
” Besides the 9 killed, 15 American and 4 Afghan soldiers were wounded in the battle. The Afghan soldiers received minor bullet wounds in the fight”<<<<<<<
“The insurgents occupied Wanat, told villagers to leave, and opened fire from houses within meters of the base”
“The American and Afghan army soldiers had moved into the base at Wanat just days before, after abandoning another base higher up a side valley where they had come under repeated attack from insurgents.”<<<<<<<
“He said some local people may have joined the militants since a group of civilians were killed in U.S. airstrikes on July 4 in the same area. “This made the people angry,” he said. “<<<<<<<
~~~
4 Afghans with minor wounds,,,9 GIs KIA,,,15 WIA,,,
Whose idea was it to move to town ?
They were safer where they were,,,
Sounds like the town folks Were the Militants,,,
Maybe it's just me...
Looks like VR’s observation was right. I read about 20 families left. I don’t know how many families occupied the little hamlet.
Here is where I got 20 families.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i8dGftYb0s4XWdUMRdIVs3vh1CKAD91TQK7G0
I post these, refuting your posts, not to answer you - but to let others who read your posts know that your posts are bunk. So you need not reply to me. I'm not interested in anything further you have to say. At the same time, maybe you'll learn something.
from the LONDON TIMES today: “ confirmed yesterday that the insurgents had come close to wiping out the base, which was only three days old. It was “a pretty close run thing,” a military source said....
“The combat outpost was rudimentary, a ring of barricades and sandbags designed to shield the occupants from small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. Its defensive towers and fortifications were still under construction. On three sides it was overlooked by the village of Wanat, high in the restive Weygel Valley.
..“It was a complex attack, well organised and planned ... it was clear they wanted to over-run the combat outpost,” said Captain Michael Finney, spokesman for Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The force of several hundred reportedly infiltrated the area and took up positions in houses, shops and the mosque overlooking the US base on Saturday night. Some reports spoke of a joint assault including members of the Taleban, al-Qaeda fighters from neighbouring Pakistan, Arabs and Chechen “foreign fighters” and members of Hizb-eIslami, an allied insurgent group. p>
........etc”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4333666.ece
Warning to Terrorists: Hell is coming, don't look up.
So let it be said - so let it be done. AMEN
God bless and keep our people safe...I read this, and my heart aches for the families.
And then the anger starts, that while we have people dying overseas, one entire political party at home is salivating over the chance to sabotage the war effort...and the whores in the media are all-too-jolly to report American casualties.
At least our troopers sent a whole sh*tload of the bastards to Hell. Provides a small measure of comfort. A very, VERY small measure of comfort...
Cry Havoc, and let slip the dogs of war, and show these camelhumpers what American military might can do.
Sh*t situation - This is war - We are taking the fight to them in their last bastions of Stan - The enemy is paying dearly since this took place (24/7) since it took place -
God bless these fallen warriors - Monday morning QB'ing does absolutely nothing - In war sh*t happens, warriors always could use more (be it equipment, CAS, balls from the COC, etc).
But make no mistake we are winning in Stan and we are putting a lot more damage on the enemy....
you have freep mail
Soldier from Eastern Shore recounts deadly battle in Afghanistan
Sooner or later, the Islamic World is going to need to have a demonstration within Dar es-Salaam (land of Islam), that they need to learn to play well with others.
I suggest Waziristan.
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