| Follow-up on yesterday's story, which had the Talib count at 12. |
Several hundred soldiers at the base, which lies in a small town but backs onto a sheer mountain face, returned fire with mortars and small arms before jets dropped four 500-pound bombs, ending the clash that lasted more than two hours.
This is the first large, coordinated attack on our base since we arrived three weeks ago,Â’ said Lt. Joel Rees, 26, of Memphis, Tennessee. When light broke, we found large crater holes from the RPG attack throughout the base and several tents had bullet holes.Â’
Maj. Tom Sutton, of the 3rd Battalion, 71st Infantry Regiment of the 10th Mountain Division, based in Fort Drum, New York, said at least 19 militants were killed in the battle, the most ferocious he said he had witnessed in the area. A coalition statement said two American soldiers were wounded, but returned to duty after treatment.
It was a very severe attack that indicated that US forces are entering areas where militants had long gone without being attacked,Â’ Capt. Charles Schwab, 30, of Tionesta, Pennsylvania, said of the assault in Kamdesh. It shows we are making an impact and forcing the enemy to fight to the death.Â’