Eviscerated Taliban overrun US outpost killing 9 American soldiers and wounding 15 more

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http://www.iht.com/articles/2001/10/17/attack_ed3__8.php

Taliban Is 'Eviscerated,' Pentagon Declares : Deadly Gunship Joins U.S. Air Attack Force

By Brian KnowltonPublished: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2001

WASHINGTON: The U.S. military introduced one of its deadliest aircraft amid fierce aerial raids Tuesday on Afghanistan, and the White House expressed new determination to force the Taliban rulers to hand over militants of the Qaida network headed by Osama bin Laden.

For the first time since U.S.-led forces launched an assault on the Taliban and suspected terrorist targets Oct. 7, a U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship joined the campaign, using high-power cannon and heavy machine guns to attack a Taliban stronghold near Kandahar, military officials said.

"The combat power of the Taliban has been eviscerated," said Lieutenant General Gregory Newbold of the Marine Corps, in one of the strongest Pentagon assessments of the effectiveness of 10 days of air strikes.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0715/p07s05-wosc.html

Outpost attack in Afghanistan shows major boost in militant strength

Insurgents' ability to breach the post in Kunar Province is seen as a significant escalation in the fight.

By Aunohita Mojumdar | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

from the July 15, 2008 edition

Kabul, Afghanistan - A deadly attack on a remote NATO outpost in the eastern province of Kunar is being viewed as a serious escalation in the fighting between the insurgents and the international forces stationed in Afghanistan – and a possible shift in the insurgents' tactical capability. The high casualties sustained by international forces in recent attacks have also increased the prospects that international troops could launch cross-border strikes into Pakistan with increasing frequency.

In contrast to their traditional hit-and-run tactics and reliance on use of explosives, bombs, and suicide attacks, militants directly engaged soldiers at the outpost, in the village of Wanat, in a style that had not been seen for more than a year. A wave of insurgents attacked the outpost from multiple sides and some were able to get inside, killing nine US troops and wounding 15. The attack was the worst for US troops since June 2005, when 16 Americans were killed after their helicopter was shot down.

"The attack on Sunday was a carefully planned one, with upward of 200 insurgents, to give it weight of force," Capt. Michael Finney, acting spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, said in an interview. Captain Finney said the attack was ultimately repelled with on-the-ground fighting as well as air power.

Superior planning

But the battle, analysts say, exhibited the capacity of the insurgents, beginning early in the morning and continuing throughout the day with militants firing machine guns, rocket -propelled grenades, and mortars.

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