(Ten) French paratroopers killed in ambush near Kabul

[bemildred]

Source: AP

SUROBI, Afghanistan -- About 100 insurgents ambushed a group of French paratroopers, killing 10 soldiers in an area outside the capital known as a militant stronghold. In a separate coordinated attack today, a team of suicide bombers tried unsuccessfully to storm a U.S. base near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

The death of the French soldiers marked the biggest single combat loss for international forces in Afghanistan in more than three years.

The soldiers were on a renonnaissance mission in the Surobi district, about 30 miles east of the Afghan capital, when they were ambushed Monday afternoon. NATO sent backup and said a "large number" of the attackers were killed in the three-hour gunbattle.

An Afghan official said insurgents kidnapped four of the soldiers and later killed them. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not supposed to release the information.


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghan20-2008aug20,0,4952092.story

[KansDem]

1. Aren't French paratroopers among some of the toughest commandos?

Don't they rank up there along with British commandos and US special forces...?

Perhaps Bush should have suppressed his lust for Iraqi oil and concentrated solely on Afghanistan. Or better yet, gone after the real 9/11 terrorists: the Saudis.

[frankieT]

2. yes they are very good soldiers!

Almost all the casualties (9 kia, 19 wounded) occurred during the first attack of the ambush when the paratroopers were going through a pass in this very dangerous region of AFGHANISTAN.

[krispos42]

3. Afghanistan: the forgotten war

That's a devestating loss. :-(

[14thColony]

4. If given the chance

there will be some serious payback. I wouldn't want to be in the next bunch of insurgents sent up against the French paras.

[onager]

6. Siege of Mecca, November 1979...

In November 1979, radical fundamentalists seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca during the big annual pilgrimage.

The attackers burrowed into the labyrinth of ancient, forgotten tunnels and crypts under the mosque. The Saudi police and military, taking heavy casualties, tried everything to get them out. From blindly throwing in explosives to flooding the tunnels and tossing in live electrical cables.

Nothing worked...until they called in a detachment of French commandos.

Accounts of this are still murky, but according to one great story: no "infidels" are allowed into the city of Mecca at all, so the French troops had to go thru a special conversion ceremony before they attacked. The ceremony made them Official Temporary Muslims.

And they solved the terrorist problem pretty quickly.

[bluestateguy]

5. I'm sure the Freepers will be ready with France jokes

nt

[14thColony]

7. Yes, it'll be attack of the armchair commandos

denigrating real soldiers who actually stepped up and went to war. How is it that they're considered patriotic again?

[The Stranger]

8. But isn't Sarkozy one of their own?

[Posteritatis]

9. They seem surprisingly respectful in the thread I found

I'm pleasantly surprised. Of course, the thread's drowning in France-bashing (and Obama-bashing - the hell?), but they've somehow exempted the French soldiers themselves.

Maybe there's some evolution going on there. Someone pointed out there that back in 2003 people were joking about the WWII and WWI(?!) dead without censure. Ugh.

[ohio2007]

14. gotta link to your freeper site thread ? nt

[Posteritatis]

16. Yep

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2064177/posts

It's something, at least. Either that or some other stuff has simply put me in too good a mood today to be easily annoyed by things. (I'm entitled occasionally. ;) )

[Hissyspit]

10. Afghan War Escalates with Worst Taliban Raid in 6 Years

Source: New York Times

Afghan War Escalates With Worst Taliban Raid in 6 Years

By CARLOTTA GALL and SANGAR RAHIMI
Published: August 19, 2008
KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban insurgents mounted their most serious attacks in six years of fighting in Afghanistan over the last two days, including a coordinated assault by at least 10 suicide bombers against one of the largest American military bases in the country, and another by some 100 insurgents that killed 10 elite French paratroopers.

The attack on the French, which took place in a district near Kabul, added to the sense of siege around the capital and was the deadliest single loss for foreign troops in a ground battle since the United States-led invasion chased the Taliban from power in 2001.

Taken together, the attacks were part of a sharp escalation in fighting as insurgents have seized a window of opportunity to press their campaign this summer — taking advantage of a wavering NATO commitment, an outgoing American administration, a flailing Afghan government and a Pakistani government in deep disarray that has given the militants freer rein across the border.

As a result, this year is on pace to be the deadliest in the Afghan war so far, as the insurgent attacks show rising zeal and sophistication. The insurgents are employing not only a growing number of suicide and roadside bombs, but are also waging increasingly well organized and complex operations using multiple attackers with different types of weapons, NATO officials say.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/world/asia/20afghan.html?_r=2&oref=slogin

---

[UpInArms]

11. Flashback: Blair insists Nato is winning the war in Afghanistan

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2006/nov/30/nato.afghanistan

The Guardian, Thursday November 30 2006

Tony Blair made the startling claim yesterday that Britain and other Nato members were "winning" the war in Afghanistan despite increased Taliban activity and a sharply rising death toll.

The prime minister was speaking to the press at the end of a two-day Nato summit in Latvia which exposed continuing divisions within the 26-member transatlantic organisation over the level of commitment to the Afghanistan venture.

Doubts about the military operation have grown this year as a result of a resurgence in Taliban operations that has left thousands of Afghans dead, as well as Nato troops. Two Nato soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb south of Kabul yesterday.

But Mr Blair, who along with George Bush is among the most bullish of the Nato leaders about the prospects for Afghanistan, said: "I think there is a sense that this mission in Afghanistan is not yet won, but it is winnable and, indeed, we are winning."

Nato members agreed a messy and inconclusive compromise on reinforcements for British, American, Canadian and Dutch troops fighting in the south.

...more...

[ohio2007]

12. Trying to sway public opinion in France or

are they being flushed out of Pakistans northwest territory.

http://www.app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=49308&Itemid=1

their targets of opportunity are becomming very suspect.

[tabasco]

15. "flushed out of Pakistans northwest territory."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

My god, you are freakin' ignorant.

[ohio2007]

13. French Soldiers in Afghanistan 8/4/2008 ( video )

lighting somebody up on a patrol outside of Kabul two weeks ago

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e84_1219192176

Wonder how pissed these guys are today