Taliban Attack US-Afghan base near a bazaar: kill 8 civilians, 4 police, and wound 58. - Polidicks

[QUOTE]KABUL, Afghanistan — An attack by two suicide bombers just outside an American military outpost in Wardak Province at daybreak on Saturday killed at least a dozen Afghans and wounded 58 others, according to Afghan and American officials. Several American soldiers were also wounded. The same military base suffered a devastating truck bombing last year on the eve of the 1oth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington. That earlier assault on the base, known as Combat Outpost Sayed Abad, resulted in one of the worst tolls for foreign troops in a single attack in the war, with 77 Americans wounded and five Afghans killed, and was attributed to the Haqqani Taliban network. The attack proved especially significant because it was one of a handful of high-profile assaults that led American officials to publicly accuse Pakistan’s premier spy agency of supporting the Haqqani network in attacking United States targets. According to Afghan officials, the attack on Saturday started with a suicide bomber on foot detonating his explosives at a nearby police headquarters and ended with the detonation of a large cache of explosives being driven toward the base in a truck. The explosions occurred along a tight stretch of road that is home not only to the military outpost and the district police headquarters, but also to a crowded shopping bazaar. A spokesman for the American-led coalition said the truck bombing was near the bazaar and many of the Afghan victims were killed there. Among the Afghans who died, [B]eight were civilians and four were police officers[/B], Afghan government officials said. One Afghan Parliament member from Wardak, Hamida Akbari, [B]placed the death toll at 14, including six members of the Afghan security forces[/B]. [B]The Afghans who were wounded included a woman, a child and three officers of the Afghan national spy agency, the National Directorate for Security.[/B] The Taliban, who in recent weeks have repeatedly denied involvement in other deaths for which they were blamed by the Afghan authorities, quickly took responsibility for this attack. A Taliban spokesman said the target was the military outpost, which he noted was the same base targeted last year. He neither confirmed nor denied whether the Haqqani network had carried out the latest attack. The bombings seemed to follow a clear blueprint:[B] First, a man wearing a suicide vest and waving a Kalashnikov approached the gate of the district police headquarters building and opened fire, said the Wardak police chief, Abdul Qayoum Baqizoy. The police fired back, and the attacker blew himself up.[/B] According to some officials, that initial blast did not kill anyone. But the explosion and the confusion that followed appeared intended to draw attention from what lurked nearby: [B]A man driving a truck with a far more powerful payload of explosives.[/B] Chief Baqizoy said he thought the driver’s target was the same police headquarters. But American and NATO officials said the bomber’s true target was the combat outpost. The truck exploded very close to the base, but failed to tear open a hole in the perimeter wall, officials said. “It did not penetrate the exterior wall, and there was no assault force that tried to exploit the attack,” said Maj. Adam Wojack, a spokesman for the American-led military coalition in Kabul. “It was right in front of the bazaar, and that’s why there were so many civilian casualties.” He said a “very small number” of soldiers were wounded. American officials said the suicide attacker struck just moments before the truck exploded. The Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said a man named Ahmad wearing a suicide vest shot at guards at the entrance to the military outpost and then blew himself up. Next, he said, the truck full of explosives barreled into the gate of the base and exploded. In Ghazni Province, two American soldiers were killed Saturday in an insurgent attack. American officials provided no details. An employee of The New York Times contributed reporting from Kabul.[/QUOTE] [URL="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/world/asia/us-base-in-afghanistan-target-of-fatal-bomb-attacks.html"]http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/world/asia/us-base-in-afghanistan-target-of-fatal-bomb-attacks.html[/URL] CNN reports 13 killed, 78 wounded.

Terrible

jesus christ. 70 fucking people.

I'm sure the Afghan people are forever grateful to the Taliban 'freedom fighters' to save them from the American colonist scum. Why would you attack your own people?

[QUOTE=DamagePoint;37497828]I'm sure the Afghan people are forever grateful to the Taliban 'freedom fighters' to save them from the American colonist scum. [B]Why would you attack your own people?[/B][/QUOTE]Because the Taliban is a bunch of idiots. [editline]1st September 2012[/editline] with guns

Fuck I hate hearing about these things. I'm glad my dad is coming home for good in a few months but each time I hear a story like this my heart stops.

[QUOTE=DamagePoint;37497828]I'm sure the Afghan people are forever grateful to the Taliban 'freedom fighters' to save them from the American colonist scum. Why would you attack your own people?[/QUOTE] Because in the eyes of the Taliban they are collaborators, and the current government is a puppet of the US, just like the one under the soviets. Come to think of it I'd say a vast majority of the rank and file Taliban are just citizens who don't even know why the Americans are there, and joined after seeing one of the many indirect fire attacks by the occupying force, along with being spurred on by higher ups with news both true and false.

[QUOTE=Mabus;37498538]Because in the eyes of the Taliban they are collaborators, and the current government is a puppet of the US, just like the one under the soviets. Come to think of it I'd say a vast majority of the rank and file Taliban are just citizens who don't even know why the Americans are there, and joined after seeing one of the many indirect fire attacks by the occupying force, along with being spurred on by higher ups with news both true and false.[/QUOTE] Also a large chunk of the Taliban are foreign fighters that give fuck all about Afghanistan and its people. They just want to wage jihad and blow up infidels, and the civilians are an afterthought.

[QUOTE=W0w00t;37497717]jesus christ. 70 fucking people.[/QUOTE] they wasn't fucking

[QUOTE=Disotrtion;37499088]Also a large chunk of the Taliban are foreign fighters that give fuck all about Afghanistan and its people. They just want to wage jihad and blow up infidels, and the civilians are an afterthought.[/QUOTE] Pretty much.

[QUOTE=Mabus;37498538]Because in the eyes of the Taliban they are collaborators, and the current government is a puppet of the US, just like the one under the soviets. Come to think of it I'd say a vast majority of the rank and file Taliban are just citizens who don't even know why the Americans are there, and joined after seeing one of the many indirect fire attacks by the occupying force, along with being spurred on by higher ups with news both true and false.[/QUOTE] That was actually a really good answer. And it is true that [url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904103404576556531604340742.html]most Afghans don't know about 9/11,[/url] let alone why we're there in the first place.

[QUOTE=DamagePoint;37505164]That was actually a really good answer. And it is true that [url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904103404576556531604340742.html]most Afghans don't know about 9/11,[/url] let alone why we're there in the first place.[/QUOTE] I find it sad we tried to win hearts and minds but failed to mention that we came there because we believed it was in retaliation. Most probably just think we want to conquer them or something.

How odd that they didn't have fighters to try and exploit the chaos. They did much the same thing to my base, but they sent in people through the breech to try and get our command centers. We shot them all to death, of course, but it seems strange that there was no follow up attack in this case.

[QUOTE=DamagePoint;37497828]I'm sure the Afghan people are forever grateful to the Taliban 'freedom fighters' to save them from the American colonist scum. Why would you attack your own people?[/QUOTE] Cause they're not freedom fighters, they're just people who really really want power, they don't give a single solitary fuck about the civilian populace. [editline]2nd September 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=ThePinkPanzer;37508564]I find it sad we tried to win hearts and minds but failed to mention that we came there because we believed it was in retaliation. Most probably just think we want to conquer them or something.[/QUOTE] Dude, half of them still think we're the Russians from the 80's.

[QUOTE=Pierrewithahat;37508741]Dude, half of them still think we're the Russians from the 80's.[/QUOTE] This is actually pretty true. I read a memoir by a Marine who served in Operation Whaler, his platoon commander wore a Soviet belt, you know the one with the Red Star as a buckle, except the star was pointing down towards the ground. This is an old Afghan symbol for mujaheddin. He wore it like this because a village elder told him to. Too many Afghans thought the Americans were Russian.