The Taliban attacked two shipping terminals in the Pakistani city of Peshawar today, destroying more than 160 NATO military vehicles and supplies en route to the Torkham crossing and Afghanistan.
This is another in a series of major strikes by the Taliban and their fellow jihadis as they seek to control the Peshawar region and shut down America and NATO's supply lines to to Afghanistan.
The first attack involved an estimated 200 to 300 Taliban fighters who fired rockets at the front gate, the destroying the entrance and leveling the wall. The nine Pakistani security guards there fled.
The jihadis then got into the compound with RPGs and set fire to the NATO vehicles parked inside. " One security guard was killed and at least 106 NATO vehicles, including more than 70 Humvees, were destroyed.
A second attack hit the Al Faisal Terminal, where a Taliban force stormed the terminal after overwhelming the security guards. Three Pakistani security personnel were killed in the attack, and sixty-two Humvees and other vehicles were destroyed.
The Pakistani government had promised that already the NATO convoys would be protected by Pakistani military units But they were nowhere in the vicinity when the Taliban attacked.
For the Taliban, the idea is simple. Around 75% of all the supplies going to NATO and US forces passes through the Pakistani port of Karachi and then through Peshawar and into land-locked Afghanistan through the Torkham crossing.If the Taliban can cut off or even seriously disrupt NATO's supply line and add Peshawar to the territory they control, it's game over.
The Pakistani army had launched a recent offensive with the idea of cleaning the Taliban out of Peshawar, where their influence is growing.Obviously it wasn't successful, as the multiple attacks on NATO convoys and the targeted bombings inside Peshawar clearly show.
As in Waziristan, the Pakistani army clearly is in over its head.
During WWII we lost thousands upon thousands of vehicles and this enemy poses a far greater threat to America than our enemies in WWII ever did or likely ever could have. Things like this should be expected to happen during war time.
ReplyDeleteThe NATO commnaders have said that this event should not have a significant impact on our operations. They are probably correct. The primary goal here is likely psychological. With American and allied countries already skittish about continued involvement in Afghanistan the hope among our enemies is that things like this will cause us to lose our nerve and to give up the fight.
Now with that said changes in our strategy will likely need to be made. For starters, we probably need more troops to help secure the supply lines and to engage the Taliban. We should be willing to consider a draft but there may be other options here.
bposter, you & your excuses for slavery. If you caught a cold this evening, you would say that proves that you have to enslave someone!
ReplyDeleteThank you for highlighting this story, ff. The 2 major papers I read regularly buried this item inside of related stories.
ReplyDelete