10 French Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan Gun Battle

[J.J]

BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7569942.stm
CBC
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/08/19/base-militants.html

Ten French soldiers have been killed in fighting with the Taliban east of the Afghan capital, Kabul, Afghan and French sources say.

The deaths come amid heavy fighting near Kabul after Nato said one of its patrols was ambushed.

The French soldiers were part of Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).

Correspondents say it is the heaviest loss of troops France has suffered in Afghanistan since sending forces there.

The French troops had been caught up in heavy fighting that started on Monday some 50 km (30 miles) east of Kabul.

Despite increased security in Kabul, two rockets were fired on the city overnight, landing close to the Isaf headquarters.

In the southern province of Kandahar a Nato patrol was struck by a roadside bomb.

And in the province of Khost six suicide bombers have been killed in an attack on a Nato military base, Nato says.

The BBC's Alastair Leithead in Kabul says there are now incidents like these every day across Afghanistan as the overall security situation appears to be deteriorating.




Terrible news for the French.

RIP

 

[geo]

At ease troops
Rest in peace

 

[tomahawk6]

My condolences to our French allies.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7569942.stm

Afghan ambush kills French troops

Ten French soldiers have been killed in an ambush by Taleban fighters east of the Afghan capital, Kabul, the French president's office has confirmed.

A further 21 French soldiers were wounded in one of the heaviest casualty tolls suffered by international peacekeepers in Afghanistan.

The soldiers were part of the Nato-led peacekeeping International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).

President Nicolas Sarkozy will go to Afghanistan shortly, his office says.

The loss of life was the heaviest suffered by the French military since 58 paratroopers were killed in Beirut in 1983, the French news agency AFP reports.

News of the deaths is bound to provoke anger back home where around two-thirds of French people say they are opposed to any French involvement in the conflict, the BBC's Emma-Jane Kirby reports from Paris.

But President Sarkozy insisted France remained committed to the fight against terrorism and that the mission in Afghanistan would continue.

'Extremely violent'

The French troops had been caught up in fighting that started on Monday in the area of Sirobi some 50 km (30 miles) east of Kabul.

They were killed "during a joint reconnaissance mission with the Afghan National Army", Mr Sarkozy said in a statement.


"Serious measures, notably in the air, were taken to support and extricate our men caught in an extremely violent ambush."

The French leader said his visit to Afghanistan would be to show his support for French troops there.

France has 3,000 troops deployed in Afghanistan. Tuesday's deaths bring to 24 the number killed since 2002, AFP says.

"The French were ambushed in a village after they left the Ozbin valley," an Afghan intelligence officer told the BBC.

See a breakdown of the Isaf deployment

"They were ambushed from several directions. The Taleban and al-Qaeda forces used heavy machine guns and other weapons. They fired from mountains and gardens."

The fighting went on for 24 hours.

The French recently took over control of the Kabul regional command which includes Sirobi.

Wave of attacks

The ambush came amid signs of deteriorating security in Afghanistan.
Despite increased security in Kabul, two rockets were fired on the city overnight, landing close to the Isaf headquarters.

In the southern province of Kandahar a Nato patrol was struck by a roadside bomb.

And in the south-eastern province of Khost six suicide bombers were killed while attacking a Nato military base, Camp Salerno, Nato says.

Isaf confirmed that Camp Salerno had been attacked by rockets or mortars, and that a number of suicide bombers had tried to storm the base.

On Monday, nine Afghan civilians were killed when a suicide bomber rammed a car into the gate of the same base.

Isaf said the numbers involved in Tuesday's attack were a lot smaller than the Taleban claimed.

However, the governor of Khost, Arsala Jamal was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying that two children were killed in the fighting and two more, along with a woman, were wounded.

 

[kilekaldar]

BBC BEWS: Afghan ambush kills French troops
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7569942.stm

Ten French soldiers have been killed in an ambush by Taleban fighters east of the Afghan capital, Kabul, the French president's office has confirmed.

A further 21 French soldiers were wounded in one of the heaviest casualty tolls suffered by international peacekeepers in Afghanistan.

The soldiers were part of the Nato-led peacekeeping International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).

President Nicolas Sarkozy will go to Afghanistan shortly, his office says.

The loss of life was the heaviest suffered by the French military since 58 paratroopers were killed in Beirut in 1983, the French news agency AFP reports.

News of the deaths is bound to provoke anger back home where around two-thirds of French people say they are opposed to any French involvement in the conflict, the BBC's Emma-Jane Kirby reports from Paris.

But President Sarkozy insisted France remained committed to the fight against terrorism and that the mission in Afghanistan would continue.

'Extremely violent'

The French troops had been caught up in fighting that started on Monday in the area of Sirobi some 50 km (30 miles) east of Kabul.


DEADLIEST ATTACKS ON ISAF
19 August 2008: 10 French troops killed and 21 wounded in ambush east of Kabul
13 July 2008: Nine US soldiers killed and 15 wounded in attack on base in Kunar
28 June 2005: Rocket-propelled grenade downs US helicopter in Kunar, killing all 16 servicemen aboard

They were killed "during a joint reconnaissance mission with the Afghan National Army", Mr Sarkozy said in a statement.

"Serious measures, notably in the air, were taken to support and extricate our men caught in an extremely violent ambush."

The French leader said his visit to Afghanistan would be to show his support for French troops there.

France has 3,000 troops deployed in Afghanistan. Tuesday's deaths bring to 24 the number killed since 2002, AFP says.

"The French were ambushed in a village after they left the Ozbin valley," an Afghan intelligence officer told the BBC.

"They were ambushed from several directions. The Taleban and al-Qaeda forces used heavy machine guns and other weapons. They fired from mountains and gardens."

The fighting went on for 24 hours.

The French recently took over control of the Kabul regional command which includes Sirobi.

Wave of attacks

The ambush came amid signs of deteriorating security in Afghanistan.

Despite increased security in Kabul, two rockets were fired on the city overnight, landing close to the Isaf headquarters.

In the southern province of Kandahar a Nato patrol was struck by a roadside bomb.

And in the south-eastern province of Khost six suicide bombers were killed while attacking a Nato military base, Camp Salerno, Nato says.

Isaf confirmed that Camp Salerno had been attacked by rockets or mortars, and that a number of suicide bombers had tried to storm the base.

On Monday, nine Afghan civilians were killed when a suicide bomber rammed a car into the gate of the same base.

Isaf said the numbers involved in Tuesday's attack were a lot smaller than the Taleban claimed.

However, the governor of Khost, Arsala Jamal was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying that two children were killed in the fighting and two more, along with a woman, were wounded.


On CNN

10 French soldiers killed in Afghan fighting
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/08/19/afghan.attack/index.html

    * Story Highlights
    * NEW: Sarkozy to travel to Afghanistan, AP reports
    * 10 French soldiers killed in fighting in Afghanistan
    * Up to six suicide bombers tried to attack U.S. base near Khost, NATO says
    * A few attackers blew themselves up outside of base, NATO spokesman says

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Ten French soldiers were killed in heavy fighting with Taliban militants near the Afghan capital, France's defense ministry confirmed Tuesday, as violence raged across the country.

The deaths, nearly doubling the French toll in seven years' involvement in the Afghan conflict, came as the troops serving with the international NATO-led force fought in the Sarobi area near Kabul, the ministry said.

In a separate battle, several suicide bombers struck an American base in the Khost province in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, but U.S. and Afghan forces repelled the onslaught.

The fighting came after authorities tightened security on Monday in anticipation of militant attacks on the country's Independence Day. Earlier, Taliban militants struck an American base and assaulted a Canadian foot patrol, authorities said.

The French troops, part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, were among about 1,670 French currently serving in Afghanistan.

The deaths mark a spike in fatalities this year among U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, with a resurgent Taliban at its most potent since it was pushed from power by a U.S.-led invasion in 2001.

Soon after news of the French deaths emerged, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced he would travel immediately to Afghanistan, The Associated Press reported.

U.S., British, Canadian and Dutch troops have been engaging in much of the combat in Afghanistan. The United States has been urging other countries in the NATO-led alliance to help ease the burdens of those troops on the frontlines.

ISAF said fighting between French troops and the Taliban started late Monday afternoon and continued Tuesday. Before this incident, 12 French troops had died in the Afghan war, mostly in combat.

Meanwhile, several suicide bombers struck an American base in Khost province in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, but U.S. and Afghan forces repelled the onslaught.

Seven insurgents were killed in the attack, including three suicide bombers who blew themselves up after forces from the base encountered them more than 3,000 feet from the base, ISAF said in a statement.

The insurgents attacked Forward Operating Base Salerno, a U.S. base just north of the city of Khost, which is about 12 miles from the border with Pakistan, a spokesman for the force said.

U.S. and Afghan troops noticed the approaching militants by their "special behavior," the spokesman said. Helicopters flew in to attack them, the force said.

ISAF said it suffered no casualties.

Gov. Arsallah Jamal of Khost province, where the U.S. base is located, said four commandos -- presumably Afghans -- were injured after the militants struck late Monday.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said 15 suicide bombers with small arms and machine guns entered the base and inflicted heavy casualties -- claims that the NATO-led force and Khost governor dismissed.

The attack came after a suicide car bombing outside the base killed 10 Afghan civilians and wounded 13 others Monday, the U.S. military said. Two other would-be bombers were killed before they could carry out attacks, Jamal said.

Afghan forces stopped a second would-be car bomb near the base, performed a controlled detonation and detained a suspect, the NATO-led force said.

This comes as a source from the Afghan Defense Ministry, who declined to be named, confirmed that Pakistani army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani arrived in Kabul on Tuesday morning to meet with Afghan and NATO military officials.

Gen. Athar Abas, the Pakistan Army's spokesman, said the meeting was regularly scheduled and the timing has nothing to do with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's resignation Monday.

In southern Afghanistan, a suicide bomber struck a Canadian foot patrol on Tuesday in the Kandahar province district of Panjwayee, local police said.

The bomber and an Afghan interpreter for NATO forces were killed, and a NATO soldier and a child were wounded, police said.

The attack occurred as troops chatted with villagers in the district's main bazaar. The Taliban, in a Web statement, said 11 foreign soldiers were killed or wounded in the attack.

 

[geo]

Holy crap.... 10 KIA + 21 WIA in ambush that was triggeres as they chatted with villagers in the main bazaar!!!

Though the total of casualties happened over a 24 hr period, you have to wonder how many perrished in the very 1st volleys of the firefight.  This is not good, not good at all.

 

[tomahawk6]

There were preliminary indications that 4 of the KIA were executed after being captured.Probably fog of war.

Sarkozy statement.

Publié le 19-08-08 à 13:05

Communiqué de M. le Président de la République


Dans son combat contre le terrorisme, la France vient d'être durement frappée.

Hier, 10 de nos soldats appartenant au 8ème Régiment de parachutistes d’infanterie de marine, au 2ème Régiment étranger de parachutistes et au Régiment de marche du Tchad sont morts en Afghanistan. 21 autres ont été blessés, au cours d’une mission de reconnaissance conjointe avec l’armée nationale afghane. D’importants moyens, aériens notamment, ont été mis en œuvre avec le soutien des Alliés pour appuyer et dégager nos hommes pris dans une embuscade d'une extrême violence. Cette mission se déroulait dans la région de Kaboul, où nos forces sont présentes avec nos alliés depuis 2002.

The Guardian reported:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/19/afghanistan.nicolassarkozy

Sarkozy to fly to Afghanistan after French soldiers killed in ambushFrench president to fly to Kabul after gun battle claims 10 French troops and 13 Taliban miltants
Sadie Gray and agencies guardian.co.uk, Tuesday August 19 2008 13:07 BST Article history
Nicolas Sarkozy today said he would travel to Afghanistan after 10 French soldiers were killed after Taliban insurgents attacked their patrol near Kabul.

A three-hour gun battle broke out after the attack yesterday, 30 miles east of the capital, in the Surobi district, continuing sporadically overnight and picking up this morning, when the Nato soldiers were killed, Afghan military officials said today. A further 21 were injured.

One Afghan source claimed four of the soldiers had been kidnapped by the insurgents and killed.

French reinforcements in armoured vehicles joined the battle today, while other troops stopped civilian traffic from entering the area. Witnesses reported helicopters flying overhead.

The deaths of the men, from the 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment, represent the biggest single loss of life for the French in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion of 2001 ousted the Taliban regime. Before yesterday's attack, the total French death toll was 14.

At April's Nato summit in Bucharest, Sarkozy pledged a further 700 soldiers to Afghanistan, and their arrival by the end of this month will take the French contingent, based mainly in Kapissa province, north-east of Kabul, to 2,600.

A Taliban spokesman said insurgents had used mines and rockets to inflict "heavy losses" including the destruction of five French vehicles. Retaliatory airstrikes killed five militants and 15 civilians, they claimed.

Surobi district chief Qazi Suliman put the Taliban death toll at 13.

The French ministry of defence in Paris would confirm only that a clash involving French troops, who are with Nato's International Security Assistance Force, was ongoing.

The attack is the deadliest upon foreign troops since 16 American soldiers were killed in June 2005 when a rocket-propelled grenade shot down their helicopter.

Meanwhile, in the town of Khost, a squad of six suicide bombers tried to storm the main US base in south-eastern Afghanistan, three of them detonating their bomb vests, just before midnight yesterday.

The Taliban launched several waves of attacks at the Camp Solerno base a few miles from the Pakistan border - the second largest US base in Afghanistan after the headquarters at Bagram. They were fought off and surrounded by ground forces, fighter aircraft and helicopters.

A total of 13 insurgents, including the six bombers, died in the attack, said the Afghan ministry of defence.

One US soldier was killed, four Afghan troops were wounded and there were a number of civilian casualties.

 

[vonGarvin]

Holy crap.... 10 KIA + 21 WIA in ambush that was triggeres as they chatted with villagers in the main bazaar!!!

That ambush "trigger" was vs. our troops in the south.  Media have reported (on the radio, anyway), that a Canadian Soldier was wounded, but is okay.  Not sure about locals.  Anyway, Taliban have reported that 10 ISAF were KIA in that attack.  That wasn't the battle near Kabul.

 

[Teddy Ruxpin]

Surobi was "hot" even a couple of years ago.  Popular lore has chanted the "Kabul is safe" mantra for so long that everyone was believing it, forgetting that the province extends well beyond the city proper.  Surobi was abandoned by the US as untenable when I was there, and my brigade did several surge ops into the area - mainly to ascertain the state of the Surobi Dam, a main supplier of power to Kabul proper.  At the time, the Taliban was floating bombs down the river in a somewhat comic attempt to breach the dam.

As I've said previously, the French will "drop the gloves" in a heartbeat if provoked.  Given the units involved, one wonders how the Taliban is faring - remembering to take all Afghan reports with a grain of salt.

 

[cameron]

Just read this story on Yahoo! news.  RIP to those brave men and my condolences to their families and comrades-in-arms

 

[ark]

RIP Soldiers

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080819/france_afghanistan_080819/20080819?hub=World

Updated Tue. Aug. 19 2008 12:59 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Ten French soldiers are dead and 21 injured after a battle with Taliban insurgents outside Kabul, in what is reportedly the biggest single loss of life during combat suffered among international forces in Afghanistan in three years.

The French soldiers were members of the 8th infantry parachute regiment. They were attacked while on a reconnaissance mission in a known militant stronghold, say military officials.

An Afghan official told the Associated Press that four of the 10 soldiers were first kidnapped by insurgents and then killed.

Sources told AP the battle took place over two days in the Surobi district of Kabul province, about 50 kilometres outside of the Afghan capital.

Qazi Suliman, the district chief in Surobi, said 13 insurgents also died in an ensuing three-hour gun battle. NATO said it sent reinforcements and a "large number" of the 100 attackers died.

Meanwhile, an Afghan intelligence officer told the BBC that the soldiers were "ambushed in a village" from "several directions."

The officer said the Taliban used heavy machine guns and other weapons to attack the soldiers.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday he will travel to Afghanistan immediately following the incident.

"My determination is intact. France is determined to continue the struggle against terrorism for democracy and freedom. The cause is just," Sarkozy said in the statement.

The latest deaths bring the total number of French troops killed in Afghanistan to 22. The attack marks the deadliest against international troops in the country since June 2005, when 16 U.S. troops were killed in Kunar province when their helicopter was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Harper's response

In response to the deadly incident, Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered condolences to France over the loss of its soldiers. He said the loss of lives is sad, but that all NATO countries in Afghanistan must stay the course so that a stable environment can be accomplished.

Speaking in Hamilton, Ont. on Tuesday, Harper said Canadians have over the past several years understood the difficulty of the mission, and that Canada is proud to have the French making an enhanced contribution in Afghanistan.

Karzai may run again

Meanwhile, Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has told The Associated Press that he would like to seek re-election next year.

He said Tuesday that he has a job to complete, so "in that sense, yes, I would like to run."

Karzai has headed Afghanistan's government since the Taliban were toppled in late 2001. He served first as chair of the Transitional Administration then interim president.

On Dec. 7, 2004, Afghan's electorate elected Karzai, an ethnic Pashtun, as president for a five-year term.

Although he has hinted at a re-election run in 2009, this is the first time Karzai has addressed the issue directly.

Karzai, 50, is considered a staunch ally of the NATO presence in Afghanistan, but has been critical of civilian deaths resulting from counterinsurgency combat operations.

With files from The Associated Press

 

[blacktriangle]

RIP Troops! 

 

[1feral1]

Sorry for the loss of 10 good men.

J'me souviens.

OWDU

 

[Mike Baker]

RIP Soldiers.



-Deadpan

 

[MarkOttawa]

More at The Torch:

The Taliban turn it up...
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2008/08/taliban-turn-it-up.html

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Good2Golf]

RIP les soldats.  Mes voeux et sentiments les plus sincères exprimés aux familles et les comrades des perdus.

 

[tomahawk6]

Short video clip of the battle.

http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/monde/0,,3962797,00-camera-embarquee-avec-les-soldats-francais-en-afghanistan-.html

 

[EW]

Short video clip of the battle.

http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/monde/0,,3962797,00-camera-embarquee-avec-les-soldats-francais-en-afghanistan-.html

My french skills are not what they should be, but for what it's worth, I don't think that is the battle in question.  It reads 7 August and mentions securing a village north of Kabul.

That said, thanks for the link.  It shows that the recent ill fated incident is not the first time the French have been going about the business of engaging the Taliban.

 

[geo]

EW
Report prepared with clip taken two weeks previously - with french paras.

 

[wannabe SF member]

In Tomahawk's video at 1:46 one of the french soldiers puts something on his rifle (a grenade perhaps?)
any ideas?