Afghanistan Taliban attack consulate

[Forever_frost]

The Taliban told the BBC a suicide bomber had detonated explosives outside the building before dawn on Friday.

Other fighters then opened fire on the consulate. Several Afghan police are reported to have been killed and injured in the gun battle.

It is the latest in a series of attacks ahead of the withdrawal of foreign combat troops from Afghanistan in 2014.

An Afghan army spokesman told the BBC that the initial explosion had damaged outer defences of the US consulate, allowing the attackers to breach the perimeter and shoot at the consulate buildings. The bomb had been placed in a car.

The gunfire continued for some time, reporters at the scene said.

The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) tweeted at 0400 GMT that the consulate was secure "with all enemy forces being killed".

Isaf and Afghan National Security Forces were at the scene, it added.

The BBC's David Loyn in Kabul says the attack - carried out in the shadow of the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the US - is a demonstration of the ability of insurgents still to disrupt Afghanistan 12 years on.

Two Afghan police and one locally hired guard were killed, our correspondent adds.

"All consulate personnel are safe and accounted for," a US Embassy spokesman told AP news agency.

Herat, close to the Iranian border, has been relatively peaceful in recent years.

Earlier this month Taliban targeted the Torkham US base in eastern Afghanistan, sparking a lengthy gun battle in which three insurgents were killed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24075687

[Forever_frost]

https://twitter.com/USEmbassyKabul

U.S. Embassy Kabul @USEmbassyKabul 7m
There was a complex VBIED attack against US Consulate Herat this morning. All Consulate personnel are safe & accounted for. - Embassy Spox
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U.S. Embassy Kabul @USEmbassyKabul 17m
At approx 530 an attack commenced at US Consulate Herat. Full details not known but attack is over. No American casualties. @StateDept spox
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[KBScobravert]

Their GMT time is improperly used. But yes, we got hit this morning. This is one is minor compared to what we have seen in the past month.

The anti-coalition forces have adjusted their TTP and have found how effective a VBIED is at allowing a follow on force to breach. I don't know what is in open source but you can search Salerno 2011, Zormat 2012, Ghazni August 2013. They have learned some things that should force changes to the JFOB.

[soap]

Their GMT time is improperly used. But yes, we got hit this morning. This is one is minor compared to what we have seen in the past month.

The anti-coalition forces have adjusted their TTP and have found how effective a VBIED is at allowing a follow on force to breach. I don't know what is in open source but you can search Salerno 2011, Zormat 2012, Ghazni August 2013. They have learned some things that should force changes to the JFOB.

forgave me dude but I don't remember, are you back in afghanistan? just asking!

[KBScobravert]

forgave me dude but I don't remember, are you back in afghanistan? just asking!

yes. the end of this month I will have been back for another year.

[Vertnut]

Putin and Assad wounded our gutless leader and all the other sharks around the world smell blood in the water.

[ceyko]

Their GMT time is improperly used. But yes, we got hit this morning. This is one is minor compared to what we have seen in the past month.

The anti-coalition forces have adjusted their TTP and have found how effective a VBIED is at allowing a follow on force to breach. I don't know what is in open source but you can search Salerno 2011, Zormat 2012, Ghazni August 2013. They have learned some things that should force changes to the JFOB.

For years the media seems to pick and choose what they report on.

You'd think they would've learned these lessons sometime since 2004 though.

[KBScobravert]

For years the media seems to pick and choose what they report on.

You'd think they would've learned these lessons sometime since 2004 though.

Things are only going to get exponentially worse as the days go on; troops leave, afghans take control of combat operations, and we just sit and take it as we withdraw. Hell, I am in a bunker next to my tent right now. Just took a small handful of rockets. I am at a relatively safe base. Over the past several years you could count on two hands the amount of attacks it has had each year. So far this week, we have been hit every day but yesterday. 9/10 was REALLY bad.

This new tactic of blowing through the HESCO perimeter and following it up with ground assaulters backed by SBF and IDF is bad, real, real bad. Ghazni had just fewer than 10 breach the perimeter and cover over 100yrds of open ground wearing suicide vests. 4 hour gun battle and they did enough damage to the base that the dining facility is condemned. Since the mission is closing anyway, it is MREs and dry goods until they pull out completely

disclaimer: this information can be found open source or is of no OPSEC value.

[Mike K]

And that's why I am glad I am at Leatherneck.

[lowthreeohz]

You guys stay safe over there.

[KBScobravert]

And that's why I am glad I am at Leatherneck.

Marine's security is always above par with the Army/Air Force methods. I bet you could tell a big difference between Leatherneck and BAF as far as force protection is concerned and how serious they take certain things.

Have fun down there. At least you also get avoid the fucking of a winter we are about to roll into.

[soap]

yes. the end of this month I will have been back for another year.

Damn. Be safe in that shit hole.

[Sean88gt]

Watch your ass Keith.

[KBScobravert]

Watch your ass Keith.

Thanks, I will. Oddly enough, I feel safer here than I would wondering the streets back home. On bases, big ones like where I am now, it really is pretty safe. There is something to be said for the armed society here where everyone is openly carrying a firearm; everyone is polite lol.

The biggest scare is when the incoming alert goes off but 9/10 I never even get out of bed to go to a bunker. My tent is near a perimeter and they usually shoot for the airfield. It is a butt pucker situation when the alarm goes off until you hear the impact/explosion, then you are good until the next one. Other than that, my office is very close to the entry control point (number 1 target for a direct attack) but there are plenty of troops around here to take care of shit.

Hell people think I am nuts but I work for a contractor where we are not armed...........ever. There is just no need to have a gun here in my capacity. Now when I drove convoys in kabul I had "access" to an M9 pistol and a M4 in my truck but even then, a gun does nothing when the threat is a VBIED. There have been instances when I have gone off the reservation (previous employer) and I was armed by the military but those days are long gone for me. My biggest threat to my safety here right now is my cholesterol.

[Mike K]

Marine's security is always above par with the Army/Air Force methods. I bet you could tell a big difference between Leatherneck and BAF as far as force protection is concerned and how serious they take certain things.

Have fun down there. At least you also get avoid the fucking of a winter we are about to roll into.

Hell yeah! We never get hit!

I have spent 2 winters at Shank, 2 at BAF, and this one will be here at LNK (if we make it that long). BAF was miserable because we had to work on vehicles outside. It didn't matter what the weather was (heat of summer, cold of winter), we were outside working. This winter I get a heated shop to work in, so I am really looking forward to it.

Last winter at BAF: