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Afghan Ambush Kills 10 French Soldiers

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Los Angeles Times

Published: August 20, 2008

KABUL, Afghanistan - In the worst single-incident loss of life in at least three years for Western troops in Afghanistan, insurgents ambushed and killed 10 French soldiers and wounded 21 others in a sustained assault a short distance from the capital, military officials said Tuesday.

Separately, militants made an hours-long attempt to overrun a major U.S. base in southeastern Afghanistan, employing an untried and unnerving new tactic: at least a half-dozen suicide bombers blowing themselves up in succession.

It was the second assault in two days against the base, in the city of Khost near the Pakistan border. American troops fended off the assailants.

Taken together, the attacks demonstrated the growing reach and power of the Taliban and other Islamic militants in Afghanistan, where this year is fast becoming the most lethal for combatants and civilians alike since the fall of the Taliban to U.S.-led forces in 2001.

The initial ambush on the French reconnaissance forces in the Sarobi district of Kabul province took place late Monday and continued into Tuesday, NATO forces said. About 100 insurgents took part.

Attacks involving large numbers of militants mark a tactical departure for the insurgents, who generally have eschewed large-scale frontal assaults in favor of smaller hit-and-run attacks that allow them to melt away when NATO troops use their superior firepower.

The high toll among the French forces occurred despite NATO rushing reinforcements, including close air support and mobile medical units.

The fighting took place about 30 miles east of Kabul.

Western military officials said that a "large number" of insurgents were killed, but they declined to provide a more specific figure.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Defense Minister Herve Morin immediately boarded a plane to go to Afghanistan.

Sarkozy planned to attend a service for the dead and visit the wounded, then meet with military commanders and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Adding an emotionally difficult dimension to military authorities' account of the battle, an Afghan official said that four of the French soldiers were taken prisoner by the insurgents and then executed.

The attack against the U.S. base in Khost was described by military officials as involving a team of suicide bombers who stormed the gates of the base, known as Camp Salerno.

The same base had been targeted a day earlier by a suicide car bomber. The vehicle blew up at the base's outer entrance, killing 12 Afghan workers who had been waiting to enter.

In its degree of coordination, Tuesday's assault in Khost was reminiscent of an attack last month by insurgents against a U.S. base on the border of eastern Kunar and Nuristan provinces.

Nine U.S. troops were killed in that confrontation, and the outpost was nearly overrun.

In Tuesday's fighting at Khost, NATO brought in fighter aircraft and helicopter gunships, to help troops defend the base.

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