The French in Afghanistan

[AdamG]

This ain't good.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26281580

SUROBI, Afghanistan - Insurgents ambushed a group of French parachutists outside Kabul, sparking a battle that killed 10 of the soldiers in the biggest loss of life for international forces in combat in Afghanistan in more than three years, officials said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a team of suicide bombers tried unsuccessfully to storm a U.S. military base near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in a daring attack on a major American installation.

The French soldiers from the 8th infantry parachute regiment were on a reconnaissance mission in the Surobi district, an area known as a militant redoubt about 30 miles east of the Afghan capital.

Qazi Suliman, the district chief in Surobi, said the ambush sparked a three-hour gunbattle. French president Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed that 10 were killed and 21 wounded in the clashes.

An Afghan official said that four of those soldiers had been kidnapped by insurgents and killed. 1The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't supposed to release the information.

Suliman said he had a report that 13 militants were killed.

*
Khost attacks
In the attack on the U.S. base just a few miles from the border with Pakistan, 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 attacks came a day after a suicide bomb outside the same base killed 10 civilians and wounded 13 others.

*
Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, the Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman, said Afghan soldiers, aided by U.S. troops, chased and surrounded a group of insurgents, and that six militants blew themselves up when cornered. Seven other militants died in those explosions and a rolling gun battle,2 he said.

"(The Afghan National Army) is saying that anytime we get close to them, they detonate themselves," Jamal said.

Comments
1. AQ's new manual suggests taking hostages and killing them in gruesome ways.
2. Sounds like these bombers are deliberately luring our people in close. I wonder if the militants running where the same ones who had the suicide charges or if it was a bait-and-switch.

[Stevely]

Rest in peace, mes amis

[Rank amateur]

The French paratroopers were on a reconnaissance mission with U.S. Special Forces operatives and the Afghan National Army when they were ambushed in a strategic valley in the Sarobi district, about 50 kilometres northeast of the capital, Kabul.

While details of the battle were sketchy, French Defence Minister Hervé Morin said that about 100 heavily armed Taliban fighters attacked the tank column late Monday, setting off three hours of fierce fighting and clashes that continued overnight.

Nine French paratroopers were killed at the start of the ambush, he added. A 10th soldier died when his vehicle overturned on a road toward the end of the fighting.

It appears that the bad guys aren't afraid of tanks.

[Ken White]

It appears that the bad guys aren't afraid of tanks.

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?

[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.

[Fuchs]

http://www.cdef.terre.defense.gouv.f...ctrine17us.pdf

A whole issue about AFG.

[M-A Lagrange]

Thanks Fuch for posting this.

I would also recommand (for the French readers only), the high quality blog Secret defense post on COIN. It is a critic of the COIN doctrine (Published at the same momment that the doctrine nb 17 review).

http://secretdefense.blogs.liberatio...ilitaires.html