Taliban Attack NATO's Bagram Base

Military: Bagram security 'not breached'
By Emily Rauhala,  Newser Staff
Posted May 19, 2010 5:56 AM CDT
Updated May 19, 2010 6:38 AM CDT
Taliban Attack NATO's Bagram Base
An Afghan policeman stands guard on a road leading to the U.S. air base in Bagram, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 19, 2010.   (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

Seven US soldiers were wounded this morning as the Taliban staged a bold pre-dawn attack at one of the largest US bases in Afghanistan that also killed 10 insurgents. Though details are still murky, an American official told the New York Times that as many as 30 insurgents fought their way toward the heavily fortified base. The military downplayed the attack. "At no time were Bagram defenses breached,” a rep says.

It is the second attack on NATO forces around the capital in as many days. Yesterday, a suicide bomber rammed into an American convoy, killing 18. The attacks come after the Taliban announced a spring offensive called "Operation Al-Fatah" or "Victory," notes the Wall Street Journal, and as NATO forces prepare to push south to Kandahar, the Taliban's stronghold.
(More Afghanistan war stories.)

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