Global InformationUzbin Valley ambush information
34°39′42.89″N 69°50′56.91″E / 34.6619139°N 69.8491417°E
| Uzbin Valley Ambush | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the War in Afghanistan | |||||||
 Map the districts of Kabul, with Spēṟ Kunday marked in red. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
|
 Islamic Republic of Afghanistan |
 Taliban[1] Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin[2] | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Capitaine Arnaud Crézé[3] |
Zabihullah Mujahid[1] Khalid Farooqi[1] Omar Khattab[1] Mullah Rahmatullah[2] | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
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| ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
 10 killed[6] 21 wounded[6] 1 killed and 4 wounded[7] |
French claim: 30-80[7][8] killed, 18[7]-30 wounded[9][10] Taliban claim: 10 killed | ||||||
French International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops were ambushed by Afghan Taliban insurgents, with heavy casualties, in the Uzbin Valley outside the village of Spēṟ Kunday in the Surobi District of Kabul province in eastern Afghanistan on 18 August 2008.
In the ambush and subsequent counter-attack operations involving reinforcements, 10 French soldiers were killed as well as the Afghan interpreter, 21 French soldiers as well as 2 to 4 Afghan soldiers were wounded and 20 to 40 civilians also lost their lives. The casualties for the French army were the highest single day loss since the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings which killed 58 French soldiers.
Reports in France as well as a NATO one about the incident summarised that the surviving members of the initial coalition forces were "lucky to escape" arguing that they were not adequately supplied and equipped for the ambush and lacked preparation, while facing a planned attack by a well-prepared enemy. However, this version was denied by the French government and the NATO report was dismissed by NATO as a "mere field report" redacted by a soldier embedded in the patrol and featuring errors.[2]
Later reports by the British newspaper The Times claimed that when the French group took over duties from the Italians, the relative calm of the region until that point had only been obtained by bribery, something the French were unaware of and which led to the assumption that the zone was largely secured already.[11] But these claims were never confirmed, with the Italian Prime Minister calling them "totally baseless accusations". The French military likewise denied the accusations leveled against the Italians.[12]
- ^ a b c d Daniel, Sara (16 October 2008). "Pakistan: rencontre avec les talibans d'Uzbin" (in French). Le Nouvel Observateur. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
ghulwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Merchet, Jean-Dominique (6 November 2009). "Uzbin: l'honneur d'un capitaine". Secret Défense. Archived from the original on 9 November 2009. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
- ^ Keaten, Jamey (21 August 2008). "French deaths in Afghanistan show rising Taliban". Associated Press/The Boston Globe. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
- ^ de Lavarène, Eric (3 September 2008). "Taliban interview". Paris Match. Retrieved 3 September 2008. [dead link]
- ^ a b "NATO denies airstrike killed French troops". CNN. 21 August 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
- ^ a b c Smith, Graeme (20 September 2008). "French soldiers unprepared for Taliban ambush". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
- ^ International Herald Tribune, 10 French soldiers killed in Afghanistan, 19 August 2008
- ^ Straziuso, Jason; Shah, Amir (20 August 2008). "Afghan militants kill 10 French, strike at US base". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2008.
- ^ Antoine, Jacques (25 September 2008). "Afghanistan. Les blessés témoignent" (PDF). Valeurs Actuelles. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 March 2009. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
- ^ Coghlan, Tom (15 October 2009). "French troops were killed after Italy hushed up 'bribes' to Taliban". The Times. Archived from the original on 6 January 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
- ^ "French army denies reports of Italy paying bribes to Taliban". France24. 16 December 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2022.