At Least 12 Afghan Civilians Killed in Failed Assassination of French General
French Forces Receive Deadly Welcome in Tagab Valley
by Jason Ditz,
November 16, 2009
Fresh off of yesterday’s announcement that some 700 French soldiers were marching into the Tagab Valley to try to seize control over it away from the Taliban, the militants have struck.
A pair of rockets were fired against a meeting being held between a local tribal shura and French Brigadier General Marcel Druart. Gen. Druart was not hurt, but at least 12 civilians were killed and another 38 wounded.
French officials say that despite the killings, the meeting continued, and Gen. Druart says the Taliban will not be allowed to disrupt his plans for the restive valley.
The region is not far from the valley in which 10 French soldiers were slain last year. Not far from Kabul, the Kapisa Province remains well outside of NATO control.
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MvGuy
November 16th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
"Rockets"?????? What type of rockets?? Where does the Taliban get rockets..??? What they really need is what the U.S. gave them last time out when the Russians were the target…Stingers to take out aircraft… Those Stingers ended the Soviet occupation and the SAMS that the Soviets gave to the North Vietnamese played a BIG part in making that war something way short of fun & gamez, just ask John McCain. Could it be that all the tough talk to Iran is to try to prevent them from giving the "Taliban" the type of weapons they need to raise the cost of occupying their country. Now that Conocco has bribed everyone in sight to make Afghanistan safe for their pipeline to NOT sell oil to the U.S. market, but to China so the can make a few billion per year, the U.S. taxpayers are getting stuck to the tune of a few billion a week… Hey, it's capitalism, [they say] but it looks, walks and talks alot like racketeering….
Shaun
November 17th, 2009 at 9:34 am
One does wonder who exactly supplies the taliban with it's weaponry.
guest
November 17th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Maybe the French were just trying to negotiate the price for safe passage thru the region with the local warlord.
popsiq
November 18th, 2009 at 4:09 am
The same day the French 'offensive' to build a new supply road into Pakistan is announced. Curious coinkidink, wot?