Dubbed one of the “most highly regarded units” in the entire Afghan military, an army unit of 13 soldiers were routed and all killed today in a battle for a remote outpost in Kunar Province.
The outpost, in a mountainous area of the key border province, was in an area frequented by Taliban factions. The Taliban attacked with 200 fighters, killing all within, though they appear to have abandoned the outpost by the time a second group of Afghan troops showed up.
Taliban spokesmen confirmed their role in the attack, and reports from the scene indicate that they burned the outpost virtually to the ground before leaving it. Officials say they believe many of the deaths of Afghan troops was from the fire, and not the battle.
Such a major offensive is unusual this time of year, as it has come before the Taliban’s official “spring offensive.” NATO says they believe this could indicate that this summer’s fighting will be even worse than last year’s.
Afghan troops abandoned the outpost before a second group of Karzai's troops showed up.
I hope they killed a few fascist elements from NATO too.
This is so sad – Afghan is again killing an Afghan! It just shows that everything was in vein. All thousands of dead, all trillions of dollars was in vein. Why people can not be left to their own traditions if they price it above all? Is this still democratic to dictate from positions of power the type of society some peoples will be living at? I think it is not!
"trillions of dollars was in vein"
The heroin industry is large, but not that large.
10 years and absolutely nothing to show. The hubris of the US of A are amazing to contemplate.
NATO sounds bogged down in bureaucracy when they comment that this attack by the Taliban was before their usual "spring offensive." Does this mean that the US is partnered with the equivalent of the British Army whose Hessians were holding a Christmas party in New Jersey when they were rudely set upon by ragged men who had just crossed the Delaware in the dead of winter to win by surprise?
13 dead. They should have suspected an inside job with such a small "unit"
The Fort Apache approach to winning wars has never worked. Thirteen guys in a fort? Of course they are going to be wiped out by a superior force given enough time.
While such encampments can have some tactical value for surveillance of roads, etc. simply putting soldiers in "forts" is crazy, other than to attract attackers.
The US has used this same tactic in Afghanistan with similar results. The Taliban don't have forts, do they? The are locals, they don't need them. Which is why the Taliban are winning…
Thirteen is a large squad. Against 200 attackers of course they lost. They probably had no artillery cover of air support. I'll bet their heaviest weapon was a light machine gun. Whoever ordered them to such a remote location had to know they were likely to be slaughtered.
Much as I have to laugh at the headline, the reality is over ten to one odds and even a US Special Forces unit would have been wiped out unless they could call in close air support in time.
In fact, that makes me wonder if the figure of 200 Taliban was even correct or if they are spinning the failure as a case of overwhelming odds rather than the simple failure of the unit to function properly.
By my math the Afghan army was outnumbered by 15 to 1. A great victory for the taliban !