Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Sacré Bleu! Ten French troops killed in Afghanistan


"Ten French soldiers have been killed in fighting with Taliban insurgents east of the Afghan capital, an Afghan military official said today.

The soldiers, part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), were killed in a major battle with insurgents that began on Monday about 30 miles east of Kabul, he said.

It was the biggest single loss of French troops in Afghanistan since US-led and Afghan forces toppled the Taliban......

The Taliban said on its Web site that 20 US soldiers had been killed in the fighting, which they said erupted after militants ambushed a convoy of Afghan and foreign forces late on Monday. That claim could not be immediately verified."

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COMMENT: I hate to admit this, but the Afghan resistance is demonstrating far better performance and application of guerrilla tactics than what is left of the "Iraqi resistance."

More on this story from Al-Manar:

Sarkozy Heads to Afghanistan as 10 Troops were Killed

"19/08/2008 French President Nicolas Sarkozy will travel later Tuesday to Afghanistan, his office in Paris said, after 10 French NATO troops were killed and 21 wounded in what a presidency source called a Taliban ambush. Military officials in Kabul said the fierce clashes started with an attack Monday on an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) patrol in Sarobi district, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of the capital.

"In its struggle against terrorism, France has just been hit hard," Sarkozy said.
The troops were killed "during a joint reconnaissance mission with the Afghan national army," said Sarkozy in a statement. "Serious measures, notably in the air, were taken to support and extricate our men caught in an extremely violent ambush," he said, adding he would travel later Tuesday to Afghanistan to show his support for French troops there......

The Taliban movement said it had attacked ISAF troops in Sarobi and blown up several vehicles. "We have inflicted heavy casualties," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed said. The military had responded with air strikes that killed five Taliban and several civilians, he said."

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