A not insignificant firefight in Afstan... data for this post was collected from several US government sources. The spin is all mine.
KABUL, Afghanistan – Having done their homework, Coalition soldiers went after a Taliban roadside bomb cell responsible for numerous IED and gunfire attacks against Coalition forces and local civilians in the Alishang District, which lies approximately 100 KM northeast of Kabul. When the smoke cleared and the last echoes of gunfire faded, 32 armed insurgents, including one woman, were killed, with one suspected militant arrested. After the firefight, Coalition troops destroyed two large caches of weapons and bomb-making materials that were uncovered during the firefight.
As the operation unfolded, as many as 75 Taliban fighters engaged Coalition forces, spilling out of buildings and homes and attempting to maneuver into position to destroy the Coalition force. Spread throughout the compound, firing from rooftops and alleyways, the Taliban fighters fought in the village without regard for potential civilian casualties. Despite the threat and large volume of fire from the company-sized Taliban force, Coalition forces chose to not use available air support and artillery. Instead, choosing to accept greater personal risk, the Coalition soldiers fought their way through the battle using only small arms in order to minimize the potential for causalities among the local citizens in the village.
While maneuvering under enemy fire, Coalition forces located and carefully escorted eight women and 16 children away from the fight and protected them from the reckless and indiscriminant small-arms fire militants were spraying throughout the village.
While the firefight continued unabated, Coalition forces searched the targeted buildings looking for the wanted militant roadside bomb cell leader. During this search the force uncovered two large caches of weapons, explosives and other roadside bomb-making material to include AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades, PKM machine guns and many blocks of explosives bundled together.
As is often the case due to poor storage and handling practices on the part of the militants, as well as the age of some explosives, the Coalition force commander determined the risk in moving the explosives was too great, and they were destroyed in place. After evacuating all the civilians in adjacent buildings to a safe location, the explosives were destroyed, which also resulted in the destruction of the building where they were stored. The storage of such explosives in civilian dwellings in the middle of a village is another example of how the Taliban choose to disregard the safety of the people they live among and wish to rule once more.
“Coalition forces exercised great restraint and prevented any civilian casualties at the same time the enemy placed the whole village in harms way by operating the way they do”, said Col Jerry O’Hara, a U.S. Forces-Afghanistan spokesperson. “Removal of these militants and their weapon caches prevented countless roadside bombs while protecting more than 60,000 innocent Afghans of Alishang District from the Taliban’s indiscriminate killing."
KABUL, Afghanistan – Having done their homework, Coalition soldiers went after a Taliban roadside bomb cell responsible for numerous IED and gunfire attacks against Coalition forces and local civilians in the Alishang District, which lies approximately 100 KM northeast of Kabul. When the smoke cleared and the last echoes of gunfire faded, 32 armed insurgents, including one woman, were killed, with one suspected militant arrested. After the firefight, Coalition troops destroyed two large caches of weapons and bomb-making materials that were uncovered during the firefight.
As the operation unfolded, as many as 75 Taliban fighters engaged Coalition forces, spilling out of buildings and homes and attempting to maneuver into position to destroy the Coalition force. Spread throughout the compound, firing from rooftops and alleyways, the Taliban fighters fought in the village without regard for potential civilian casualties. Despite the threat and large volume of fire from the company-sized Taliban force, Coalition forces chose to not use available air support and artillery. Instead, choosing to accept greater personal risk, the Coalition soldiers fought their way through the battle using only small arms in order to minimize the potential for causalities among the local citizens in the village.
While maneuvering under enemy fire, Coalition forces located and carefully escorted eight women and 16 children away from the fight and protected them from the reckless and indiscriminant small-arms fire militants were spraying throughout the village.
While the firefight continued unabated, Coalition forces searched the targeted buildings looking for the wanted militant roadside bomb cell leader. During this search the force uncovered two large caches of weapons, explosives and other roadside bomb-making material to include AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades, PKM machine guns and many blocks of explosives bundled together.
As is often the case due to poor storage and handling practices on the part of the militants, as well as the age of some explosives, the Coalition force commander determined the risk in moving the explosives was too great, and they were destroyed in place. After evacuating all the civilians in adjacent buildings to a safe location, the explosives were destroyed, which also resulted in the destruction of the building where they were stored. The storage of such explosives in civilian dwellings in the middle of a village is another example of how the Taliban choose to disregard the safety of the people they live among and wish to rule once more.
“Coalition forces exercised great restraint and prevented any civilian casualties at the same time the enemy placed the whole village in harms way by operating the way they do”, said Col Jerry O’Hara, a U.S. Forces-Afghanistan spokesperson. “Removal of these militants and their weapon caches prevented countless roadside bombs while protecting more than 60,000 innocent Afghans of Alishang District from the Taliban’s indiscriminate killing."
On the one hand, I think we should make every effort to reduce the loss of innocent life among civilians and other non-combatants, both on basic humanitarian grounds and to avoid alienating and radicalizing the civilian population any more than they already might be.
But on the other hand, I think the only way we have any hope of countering the terrorists' ability to use the civilian population as shields is to somehow convince the civilians that there is a GREATER cost for them in allowing the terrorists to use them as shields.
Now, I know many people will chafe at this statement, and claim that these civilians don't have much choice, that they're being brutalized by the terrorists, and that they may not be armed well enough to keep the terrorists out of their midst.
In some cases, this is undoubtedly true. However, in many more cases, I believe the opposite is true. I believe that much too often, the civilian population either tacitly or strongly shares the ideology, attitudes, and goals of the terrorists and willingly allows the militants to hide among them with the certain knowledge that American, Coalition, and Israeli troops will assume greater risks to themselves in order to avoid collateral damage and civilian deaths.
Quiite frankly, I think if the civilian population knew - without a shadow of a doubt - that we would not hold back in hitting attacking forces wherever they are, they'd make much more of an effort to keep their homes and villages from becoming sanctuaries, driving them out into the open where we could hit them without greater risk of collateral damage and civilian deaths.
At the very least, we wouldn't have terrorist groups like Hamas being elected as governments.
No, I don't think any of the above violates OPSEC. The troops in that area have been there for more than 6 months. The Taliban and HiGs (I think more likely HiGs) in the area know exactly who they are.
If it was a regular Army unit, the unit designation would have been given by PAO.