French Soldiers Were Unprepared To Fight Against The Taliban When They Were Ambushed

French soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) prepare to go for a patrol in Kabul in August. NATO has denied that French soldiers had been ambushed by better-armed Taliban fighters in Afghanistan last month but expressed concern about increasingly sophisticated cross-border attacks. (AFP/File/Shah Marai)

French Soldiers Unprepared For Taliban Ambush: Report
-- Globe And Mail

A secret NATO review obtained by The Globe and Mail shows that the French who were killed in August did not have enough bullets, radios and other equipment. By contrast, the insurgents were dangerously well prepared

It was mid-afternoon when a tribal elder invited a U.S. military commander for a quiet chat in a garden. His village was surrounded by foreign troops, hunting around the mountain valley in search of infiltrators from Pakistan rumoured to be lurking in the barren hills.

Thirty soldiers from a French airborne platoon wandered farthest from the village, exploring a steep slope covered with rocks and scrubby vegetation under a high ridge.

That hill would soon become a killing ground, scene of the deadliest ambush against international forces since 2001, and the latest troubling sign that the insurgents are mastering the art of guerrilla war.

A NATO report on the incident obtained by The Globe and Mail provides the most in-depth account so far of an attack on Aug. 18 that shook the countries involved in the increasingly bloody campaign. The NATO report, marked “secret,” reveals woefully unprepared French troops surprised by well-armed insurgents in a valley east of Kabul. Ten soldiers were killed, the report concludes, but the other soldiers were lucky to escape without more deaths.

Read more ....

Update: Michael Yon's dispatches on this case are on the money. The link is here.

More News On The Taliban Ambush Of French Soldiers

NATO denies ambushed troops 'ill-equipped' -- News.com (Australia)
NATO denies ambushed French troops were ill-equipped -- Yahoo News/AFP
NATO Denies Ambushed French Troops Were Ill-Equipped -- Tocqueville Connection
NATO denies ambushed troops 'ill-equipped' -- Daily Telegraph

My Comment: The Taliban are no longer a rag team of men who cannot shoot straight. By having safe havens in Pakistan to train and organize, they are now prepared to wreck havoc in Afghanistan .... and they are.

NATO and the Afghan Government have a lot of blame to accept in not acting forcefully against these threats, and Pakistan is now going to pay a heavy price for playing what has essentially been a "two-faced" partner when it came to the Taliban and NATO.