22 NATO Supply Trucks Destroyed in Afghanistan
BY Herschel Smith
12 years, 4 months ago
From Military.com:
The Taliban said they detonated a bomb on a fuel tanker Wednesday and then opened fire on other NATO supply trucks in a morning attack that destroyed 22 vehicles loaded with fuel and other goods for U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan.
In western Afghanistan, a NATO helicopter crashed, injuring two troops serving with the U.S.-led military coalition, NATO said. The helicopter went down early Wednesday at an undisclosed location in the relatively peaceful west. No other information has been released about the crash, which is under investigation.
The Taliban said they attacked NATO supply trucks parked overnight in Samangan province in the north.
“We put explosives on a fuel tanker. When it exploded, we fired on the trucks,” Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press in a telephone call.
Sidiq Azizi, a spokesman for the province, said many tankers and semi-trailers caught fire after the bomb went off around 2 a.m.
By midday, heavy black smoke still poured from the Rabatak area of the province where the truckers had stopped to rest. Firefighters were spraying water on the burning vehicles.
[ … ]
The tankers in the convoy were transporting fuel south toward the Afghan capital, Kabul, from neighboring Uzbekistan to the north.
Earlier this week, three NATO supply trucks were destroyed by militants in Sayd Abad district of Wardak province in eastern Afghanistan.
This is a troubling development, specifically because of the fact that this supply line isn’t the Khyber Pass or Chaman. Logistical lines should have changed long ago, specifically to focus on the Northern route (one reason that the current Northern route is so expensive is that, foolishly, we don’t use Turkmenistan) and a different Southern route (i.e., from India through Pakistani controlled Kashmir and then to Kabul, with troop protection through Kashmir).
But as we stand down in Afghanistan that wouldn’t matter. Logistical lines within Afghanistan itself will become even more problematic, to the point that the only viable means left will be air logistics to Kabul and Kandahar air field.
Sad. This is what half-ass commitment to the campaign looks like. You can thank your current administration for that.
On July 19, 2012 at 3:28 pm, Jean said:
We have been losing unescrted supply convoys for years. They resell the stuff in the local bazzars, the near-beer just sits on the shelf- They love the Gatorade and Rip it.
On July 20, 2012 at 6:16 pm, J.S.Bridges said:
At this rate, when the last of our troops are pulling out, we may see a rerun of the “last helicopter out” scenes we saw at the end of the war in Viet Nam. The Taliban are already pretty much in charge everywhere beyond a couple of klicks or so outside the remaining U.S.-fortified locations – they now commonly run roadblocks that are almost within sight of the U.S. compounds.
Great job by our Wimp-Ass In Chief, and his Hopey/Changey, SCOAMF amateurism! Way to go, Li’l Obambam!