A massive force of Taliban, reportedly from the other side of the border with Pakistan, attacked a NATO base in the Paktika Province overnight, firing rockets and grenades as well as assault weapons in a multi-hour gunbattle.
The battle ended, according to the Paktika governor’s office, with at least 70 Taliban fighters killed, and NATO insists that it lost not a single soldier in the fighting. There were also no reports of civilian deaths.
The Taliban fighters are said to have controlled two buildings near the base at the time of the attack, and NATO warplanes destroyed both buildings, which appears to be the source of s significant number of the casualties.
Exactly which Taliban faction was responsible for the attack is unclear, but speculation is that they may have been Haqqani Network fighters, since the base is near North Waziristan, the target of large numbers of US drone strikes.
Curious that if they had penetrated the base and were in two distinct buildings that a more precise body count would emerge. Another rounded estimate of 60 to 70 killed appeared in a Yahoo news report. These rounded estimates have often proved inaccurate. Progress in the war and high enemy body counts are as old as Vietnam.
We are not being told the truth about this war. The important thing to note here is that the Taliban is massing major forces together and attacking "NATO" bases. That's not a beaten and defeated enemy that's cowering before massive American firepower. That's not an enemy that we are having to hunt out of caves where they hide in fear of us. And, if you've been paying attention, this isn't the first major Taliban attack on a NATO base.
Since the US mil obviously regards news and information as ground for psy-ops warfare, would you expect them to tell the truth if Afghanistan was falling apart?
Remember the massively over-hyped Kanduhar offensive that never occurred? We can't get our attacks off the ground. But the Taliban can mass and attack our bases. This is not a sign of a victorious war.