News From the Forgotten War: 100 Afghan Insurgents "Breach" U.S. Base

By Kevin Tillman, AlterNet. Posted July 14, 2008.

This appears to have been an unusually large and well-coordinated attack (via the BBC):

More than 100 insurgents breached a US outpost in north-eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing nine US troops in hours of fierce fighting, Nato says.

The militants used rocket propelled grenades and homemade mortars to bombard the base, close to Pakistan's border, from several sides.

The attack caused one of the single worst losses of life for foreign troops since operations began in 2001.

It came as international and Afghan forces fought militants in many areas.

One soldier from the US-led coalition was also killed by a bomb in the southern province of Helmand.

I think it's easy to forget, given our military's significant advantage in technology and air-power, that our opponents are fighting for their own land, have nowhere else to go, and are much more willing to die for their cause than we are for ours. It's the equalizing factor in "asymmetrical warfare."

See more stories tagged with: terrorism, afghanistan, casualties, pakistan

Joshua Holland is an editor and senior writer at AlterNet.

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