Shall all those who died rest in peace.

 

Thanks for the sacrifice of all those who fight in this remote country, wherever they come from. Dutch, Brits, US, Canadian soldiers and all the others have paid a huge price in their commitment to protect our values.

 

I really hope my government will retain lessons of this huge loss, and will provide our soldiers with the best equipment they  need to fullfill their mission.

 

I am really questioning on the circumstances of this attack. 10 soldiers killed in one ambush is really an awfull news.

 

We'll have to learn very quicly.

 

My condolences to the families of these fallen warriors.

 

This was apparently a fairly major engagement.  A French defense reporter wrote a detailed piece on the battle here.  My summary / translation:

 

Monday morning the French forces sent a patrol from FOB Tora into the Uzbin valley, to the north of Surobi (about 50km east of Kabul).  The patrol was in VABs and other vehicles, and consisted of French paratroopers, Afghan army, and a few U.S. TACPs for air coordination.  All told the patrol consisted of about 100 troops.  This was only the third patrol conducted in the valley since the arrival of French troops into this sector, and the previous patrols had not penetrated very far into the valley.

 

At 1:30PM local time, the patrol approached a steep, rocky path through a mountain pass, and French troops in the lead vehicles dismounted to scout ahead on foot.  They fell into an ambush of about 100 Taliban fighters, and nine French paras were killed and 18 wounded.  The main body of the patrol engaged the Taliban and called in U.S. air support consisting of A-10 strike aircraft and apparently AH-64 Apache helicopters.

 

In the ensuing battle, approximately 30 Taliban were killed and an equal number wounded.  The battle lasted until 2:30 in the morning, at which point the various elements of the NATO patrol had reunited and helicopters, including Caracals from the French special forces, arrived to evacuate the wounded.  The only NATO combat casualties occurred during the initial ambush; one other French soldier was killed when a VAB vehicle overturned after the battle.

 

According to General Jean-Louis Gorgelin, commander in chief of French forces, this was a "well-executed ambush", and shows that the Taliban are capable of a certain measure of maneuver warfare and do not lack ammunition or supplies.

Our commitment in A Stan made losses predictable. We are all confronted to very experimented warriors and tough warriors there.

 

As ArtyEngineer mentioned the talibans are quite competent fighters, having faced 30 years of combat in a country they know perfectly.

 

The efficiency of this particular attack shows that they have grown in efficiency.

 

In addition, they seem to have a perfect master of intelligence. They chose their place and their time, and we ran into the trap.

 

I suppose these 100 talibans were at this specific place on purpose. We have to solve out who informed them.

 

 

 

 

Le Zookeeper,

 

hard cold facts, but you might be right on spot.....even if it hurts a bit.

The military analysis was that French troops were slow and unprepared for the attack. Also France seems unintresested in Afghanistan. Cold hard facts.

Phaid,

 

Nicolas Sarkozy stated that during the electoral campaign. At that time our secret services were negociating the liberation of two humanitarian in the hands of Taliban.

 

Being in charge of the nation, Sarkozy showed pro atlantist positions and decided to get closer to NATO. His entourage persuaded him also of the importance for the west of not losing in A-Stan. He then decided to strengthen our troops there.

 

From the debates following this ambush, i can tell you that there is a clear consensus among the all french specialists (from the left or right wing) on the idea that the message must be : "we stay".

 

Of course the majority of the public opinion is expressing an anti war position, which is very classical in my country.

 

I am really confident that politicians in France understood the importance of the game being played in that part of Asia.