At least 25 insurgents were killed in one of the largest coordinated insurgent attacks in years on US military bases in the eastern Paktia province of Afghanistan, according to NATO officials.
The attacks targeted US troops near the border with Pakistan on Friday, as the tenth anniversary of the war made headlines.
In response to heavy gunfire and car bombings, the US called in airstrikes on militant areas of Gormal, Sarobi and Barmal districts of Paktika. Independent confirmation of the insurgent death toll was not immediately available, but one coalition soldier was wounded, according to a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
The coordinated attacks against occupying forces was an embarrassment for the Obama administration who has been trying to claim progress in the war in Afghanistan. It was a strong signal that the insurgency is as strong as ever and is probably being fueled by the occupation, instead of quelled.
Twenty five terrorists wasted because they chose to fight for freedom. But, how can that be, for has not our government decreed that terrorists fight only to destroy our freedom? But then, maybe the way we exercise our freedom in their country is destroying their freedom.
Any time there is a rounded number of insurgents killed, (specifically 25, 30, 35) , generally in the past it has proved on closer examination that NATO is exaggerating the number of combatants killed.
Many times the majority of insurgents killed turn out to be civilians. There should be a follow up to this article in a few days to confirm these claims due to the frequent false claims of insurgent deaths by NATO in the past.
In related news a US marine was reported killed in Helmand on Thursday, October 5. This is the third US combat death in Afghanistan this month. 337 US soldiers have died in Afghanistan so far in 2011.
Wow! The US…errrr…NATO is really kicking ass now. Those insurgents better watch out. The combined armies of the strongest and wealthiest countries in the world join forces and after trillions of dollars and a decade of fighting they count 25 casualties. They'll be winning this one…any day now. Any day…