9 US Soldiers Killed When More Than 100 Militants Attack, Breached U.S. Base
July 14, 2008 by national
Filed under World Report
An insurgent force of more than 100 fighters breached the outer walls of a small, remote U.S. outpost that was built just last week, allowing insurgents to attack American soldiers from the inside, where they inflicted heavy casualties, officials said Monday.
The assault early Sunday killed nine American soldiers and wounded 15 in the deadliest attack against U.S. forces in Afghanistan in three years.
The insurgent assault was launched from multiple sides and was a “concerted attempt” to overrun the small base completed on Friday, said an official with NATO’s International Security Assistance Force who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release the information.
A huge wave of insurgents attacked the outpost and an unknown number of militants got inside, the reason the fighters were able to inflict such high casualties, a second military official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
After the breach, U.S. troops pushed back against the invading militants, and attack helicopters swooped in. The second official said more than 40 insurgents were killed in the fighting.
The insurgent force was described as being in the “low three figures,” meaning low hundreds, the first official said.
