Live Report: Taliban Launch Coordinated Attacks in E. Afghanistan
An Afghan National Army soldier shows off his RPG launcher (photo by P.J.)
Gardez, the capital of Paktia Province, was the target of multiple suicide bombings today, but Afghan National Security Forces managed to stop all but one of the insurgents before they could detonate their vests. I just got a call from Emmy Award winning filmmaker Scott Kesterson who is in Gardez on an embed. He gave The Desk a live report from the scene:
There were multiple bombs targeted at the NDS (National Security Directorate, Afghanistan’s NSA) the governor’s mansion and Afghan National Police headquarters in the district. Only one of the bombs detonated and unfortunately four Afghan soldiers were killed.
But the Afghan fighters performed brilliantly today, killing six insurgents. I was really impressed. Everybody will probably say, ‘Oh, this shows that security is deteriorating,’ but to me it shows that when the stuff hits the fan, the Afghan police, army and NDS guys can take care of business and get the job done. They stopped these suicide bombers. They succeeded.
Scott is a friend and in the past, I’ve heard him speak critically (though reasonably) of the performance of some of the Afghan security forces. To now hear such unmitigated praise from Scott, means that things must be going right for the ANSF in Gardez.
Scott’s promised to send photos from Gardez as soon as he gets back to the base. In the meantime, to see more of Scott’s work check out his website. To see some fantastic combat video (also by Scott) click here.
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