Wanat

3 Stories

Guns Failed US Troops in Afghan Firefight

M-4, built for extreme conditions, jammed repeatedly in heavy fire

(Newser) - As militants surrounded the remote Afghanistan base of Wanat on July 13, 2008, Staff Sgt. Erich Phillips' M-4 carbine quit firing. The machine gun he grabbed in desperation didn't work, either. When the battle ended, nine US soldiers lay dead and 27 more were wounded. A detailed study of the...

In Wanat, US Learns Value, Pain of Retreat

In Waygal Valley, leaving has helped the cause.

(Newser) - Days after the bloody battle that has come to be called the "Black Hawk Down" of Afghanistan, US troops left the the isolated Afghan village of Wanat. Fourteen months later, they haven’t returned, giving the Taliban free reign in the Waygal Valley—but the retreat is starting to...

Disastrous 2008 Battle Sways Afghanistan Strategy

Report details heroism, costly errors in firefight that left 9 dead

(Newser) - A battle 18 months ago that has come be called the "Black Hawk Down" of Afghanistan, with nine Americans soldiers killed and 27 wounded, is drawing new scrutiny in Washington as a snapshot of what has gone wrong in the war effort there. A company of paratroopers, who had...

3 Stories