| War on Terror | |
| 20 Aug 2008, NewAgeIslam.Com | |
| Ten French soldiers killed in Taliban ambush in Afghanistan | |
| 20 Aug 2008, AFP
KABUL: Ten French NATO soldiers were killed in a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan, officials said on Tuesday, the deadliest ground attack on foreign troops here since the US-led war was launched in 2001.
The shock ambush also left 21 French troops wounded, and prompted French President Nicolas Sarkozy to announce he would immediately head to the country, where recent monthly death tolls for foreign forces have topped those for Iraq.
News of the attack came as the resurgent Taliban attempted a mass suicide attack on a US military base, in a defiant reminder that tens of thousands of international troops have not been able to keep the Islamic militants at bay.
"Yesterday 10 of our soldiers... were killed in Afghanistan, 21 others were wounded during a joint reconnaissance mission with the Afghan national army," Sarkozy said in a statement issued in Paris.
"In its struggle against terrorism, France has just been hit hard."
The ambush took place in the district of Sarobi, just 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of Kabul, the Afghan capital, which has been increasingly targeted by the Taliban insurgency.
Around 100 insurgents attacked a patrol of French and Afghan troops, said NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), under which about 3,000 French soldiers serve.
The fighting began on Monday and lasted into Tuesday, it said in a statement.
"The initial patrol was reinforced with quick reaction forces, close air support and mobile medical teams. During the engagement a large number of insurgents were killed," ISAF said.
"There was fierce fighting throughout the night," said Afghan defence ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi, who said at least 13 Taliban fighters had been killed in the clashes.
The extremist Taliban said it had attacked ISAF troops in Sarobi and blown up several vehicles. "We have inflicted heavy casualties," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed said.
Before the latest fighting, only around a dozen French soldiers had lost their lives in various incidents in Afghanistan since the French military deployed to the country in 2003. Sarkozy, due to arrive in Afghanistan early on Wednesday, said his trip to Kabul would be to reassure French troops serving in the NATO force that "France is at their side."
US President George Bush offered his condolences, the White House said.
"The president was briefed on that this morning during his intelligence briefing, (and) sends his condolences to the loved ones of those lost, as well as those wounded," spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. View Source article:
*****************************
Suicide bombers attack US base in Afghanistan 19 Aug 2008, AP
KABUL: A team of suicide bombers tried to storm a US military base near the border with Pakistan in a daring insurgent attack on a major American installation, officials said Tuesday.
Six suicide bombers exploded their vests after being surrounded outside the base.
At least 13 insurgents died in the attack, officials said. The militants failed to gain entry to Camp Salerno in Khost city after launching waves of attacks just before midnight on Monday, said Arsallah Jamal, the governor of Khost. The base is just a few miles (kilometers) away from Pakistan's border.
The attack came one day after a suicide bomb outside the same base killed 10 civilians and wounded 13 others.
A US coalition spokesman, 1st Lt. Nathan Perry, said early on Tuesday that fighting around the base was still ongoing. He said there had been no American deaths.
Soldiers on the ground, fighter aircraft and helicopters were chasing the retreating militants.
Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, the Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman, said Afghan soldiers, aided by US troops, chased and surrounded a group of insurgents, and six militants in suicide vests blew themselves up when cornered. Seven other militants died in those explosions and a rolling gunbattle, he said.
"(The Afghan National Army) is saying that anytime we get close to them, they detonate themselves," Jamal said.
The Taliban appeared to confirm that account. Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said the militants dispatched 15 militants for the attack on Salerno, and that seven detonated themselves and eight returned to a Taliban safe-house.
Jamal said the bodies of at least two dead militants were outside the checkpoint leading to the base's airport, both of whom had suicide vests on. It wasn't clear if those militants were among the dead in Azimi's count.
Two Afghan civilians also died in the fighting, Jamal said. Militants have long targeted US bases with suicide bombers, but coordinated attacks on such a major base are rare.
The attack came a day after the top U.S. general in the region, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey J. Schloesser, issued a rare public warning that militants planned to attack civilian, military and government targets during the celebration of Independence Day on Monday.
More than 3,400 people, mostly militants, have been killed in insurgency-related violence this year, according to figures based from Western and Afghan officials.
View Source article: |
10:18 AM
Sultan Shahin
0 comments:
Post a Comment