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American defeat in Kandahar raid on 10/18/01? A growing number of articles in the overseas press, from Israel, India, Russia, and of course from Afghanistan and Arab sources, suggest that the US special forces raid in Kandahar on 10/18 was considerably less than the complete success it has been portrayed to be in the US media: America Faces a Long, Harsh Winter in Afghanistan 10/22/01 Debka, Israeli Intellgice Portal: - "Despite official assurances that they went off without a hitch, several independent military sources reported the US troops took a number of casualties – some from friendly fire. Some of the raiders appear to have mistakenly opened fire on other Western ground and air forces in the area, accounting for the stubborn insistence by the Taliban that its forces caused the Americans a number of losses. The Taliban education minister, for example, said Afghan soldiers killed between 20 and 25 US troops. The Americans also were shaken by the fighting ability of the Taliban and the heavy fire their fighters directed at the assault force. DEBKAfile’s military sources say that, immediately after the Taliban high command spotted US forces landing, it set up an artillery barrage aimed on the landing zone, rushed tanks carrying infantry to the area and opened up with anti-aircraft fire, which proved ineffective. Two weeks of intensive bombers and missile strikes against military camps, command headquarters, airfields, helicopter landing pads, fuel and ammunition dumps and military convoys, failed to bring the Taliban war machine to collapse. Furthermore, morale remained high and the Taliban’s heavy weaponry remained intact. Intelligence information suggests that the Taliban were able to keep most of their fighting strength and heavy arms safe and hidden in mountain caves." First US ground mission a failure: Report 10/22/01 Times of India: "The first US ground mission inside the Taliban-held Afghanistan on Saturday was a failure, a Russian news agency reported here on Sunday quoting military sources. Interfax quoting defence ministry sources in Tajikistan said the US special force's ground attack did not yield any results, nor did it influence the general military-political situation in Afghanistan. More than 100 US special troops which landed from helicopters in Kandahar's western outskirts near Babashahi hill, found themselves in an area densely controlled by the Taliban and had to retreat without achieving the main goal of the operation to attack their secret airfield, the Interfax source said." Afghan Taleban claim another downed aircraft found in south 10/22/01 Khilafah Al Yazira muestra los restos del helicóptero americano que los talibán dicen haber derribado 10/22/01 El Mundo: Taliban displays pieces of 2nd helicopter they say they shot down. Reminds you of stories of extra body bags beyond the official count in Grenada… US finds military campaign a hard sell 10/22/01 Independent, UK: "Will the Taliban's morale be dented by pictures of New York firefighters raising the Stars and Stripes in the rubble of the World Trade Centre, which American special forces are reported to have distributed in Kandahar over the weekend?" |
