The French in Afghanistan

[Rank amateur]

the French defense minister or both don't know that neither the French nor US SF have any tanks in-country...

Given the current penchant for reporters to call a Frigate a 'Battleship' this is not surprising.

Even if there had been tanks, why should anyone be afraid of them?

The Canadian tank article linked to here a while back said the Taliban were afraid of tanks. Canadian newspaper too. Darn Canadians are making me look bad.

French defence officials said about 100 soldiers - from France, the US and Afghanistan - were on a reconnaissance mission when bad road conditions forced them to stop their vehicles.

A group of French soldiers was sent ahead on foot to check the terrain, but they were ambushed by Taleban fighters and nine were killed.

A tenth French soldier was killed when his vehicle overturned on the road.

An Afghan intelligence officer told the BBC the troops had been ambushed from several directions.

"The Taleban and al-Qaeda forces used heavy machine guns and other weapons. They fired from mountains and gardens," he said.

The fighting went on for 24 hours and it is understood that reinforcements had to be called in to airlift the troops to safety.

They were VABs and the soldiers were out in front of the vehicles.

[Ken White]

The Canadian tank article linked to here a while back said the Taliban were afraid of tanks. Canadian newspaper too. Darn Canadians are making me look bad.

Don't trust the media, they're clueless, seriously so. Really.

Not least in confusing sensible respect for capability with being afraid -- not at all the same thing...

They were VABs and the soldiers were out in front of the vehicles.

I know. The VAB (and there was probably a VBL or three in there and with USSF, some up armored HMMWV of one kind or another also) is not a tank -- it isn't even a very good combat wheeled vehicle. Ergo, it probably doesn't get much respect at all from the bad guys, only anticipatory drooling at big targets.

[Distiller]

Le Monde writes that the soldiers were not killed/wounded (10/21) right at the beginning of the 13 hour skirmish. They interviewed somebody who survived and that guy says they had serious C3 problems, finally ran out of MG ammo and grenades and had only their Famas left. In addition there was no artillery support, and it took four hours till (Afghan) reinforcements arrived, which then were shooting at everybody, including the French. And finally CAS also hit the French, not only the Taliban (they were as close as 50m). The ten killed belonged to the 8th RPIMa, the 2nd REP and the Tchadian RMT.

[Ken White]

so it's perhaps pretty accurate. Given 2d REP and the 8th RPIMa plus the Chadian; US SF and Afghans, I guess C3 problems were virtually guaranteed and ANA reinforcements firing up everyone seems to be par for the course. CAS close is always dicey. Surprised that with vehicles, they ran out of MG Ammo, though.

[davidbfpo]

The BBC news: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7572612.stm and by a defence commentator: http://defenceoftherealm.blogspot.com/

Note the emphasis on the French public not supporting the deployment; once again an example of the political failure to explain why.

Rest in peace mon ami.

davidbfpo

[davidbfpo]

Not me, but from the Kings College London War Studies Kings of War blogsite: http://kingsofwar.wordpress.com/2008...-how/#comments

Very pithy comments on the ambush and the Taliban threat (in a moment will post to a Taliban thread too).

davidbfpo

[Entropy]

More here.

New information surfaced Wednesday on the death on August 18 of 10 French soldiers who, while on a reconnaissance mission in Eastern Afghanistan, were ambushed by Taliban insurgents. French satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaîné, reputed for its investigative reporting and political scoops, suggested that the French patrol may have been betrayed by their Afghan interpreter. 'A few hours before the soldiers departed on their mission on August 18, the interpreter who was supposed to accompany the small patrol disappeared,' said an article on Wednesday [27 August 2008] in Le Canard Enchaîné. According to FRANCE 24 sources, this version of the facts was given to journalists by soldiers who had participated in the mission while they were being treated at the French military hospital in Kabul. According to the newspaper, French officials speaking anonymously admitted that the insurgents knew about the French patrol’s mission 'through the missing interpreter, or through Afghan police or soldiers.