The Taliban turn it up...

...with a real blow to the French...

Taliban insurgents mounted their most serious attacks in six years of fighting in Afghanistan over the last two days, including a coordinated assault by at least 10 suicide bombers against one of the largest American military bases in the country, and another by about 100 insurgents who killed 10 [nine actually, see last quote below] elite French paratroopers.

The attack on the French, in a district near Kabul, added to the sense of siege around the capital and was the deadliest single loss for foreign troops in a ground battle since the United States-led invasion chased the Taliban from power in 2001.

Taken together, the attacks were part of a sharp escalation in fighting as insurgents have seized a window of opportunity to press their campaign this summer — taking advantage of a wavering NATO commitment, an outgoing American administration, a flailing Afghan government and a Pakistani government in deep disarray that has given the militants freer rein across the border.

As a result, this year is on pace to be the deadliest in the Afghan war so far, as the insurgent attacks show rising zeal and sophistication. The insurgents are employing not only a growing number of suicide and roadside bombs, but are also waging increasingly well-organized and complex operations using multiple attackers with different types of weapons, NATO officials say.

NATO and American military officials place blame for much of the increased insurgent activity on the greater freedom of movement the militants have in Pakistan’s tribal areas on the Afghan border. The turmoil in the Pakistani government, with the resignation of President Pervez Musharraf on Monday, has added to the sense of a vacuum of authority there...

and a defeat by the Americans:

...
The NATO base that the suicide bombers targeted was in Khost province. On Monday, a car bomb was detonated outside the base, killing 10 Afghans and wounding 13. A second car bomb was seized before it went off, NATO said. On Tuesday, insurgents followed up with a second attack.

Arsala Jamal, governor of Khost province, said he believed that as many as 10 suicide bombers may have taken part in Tuesday's assault. By his account, the trouble began when 10 to 15 Taliban fighters were seen approaching the base, known as Camp Salerno. NATO troops repelled them with heavy gunfire from the ground and helicopters, Jamal said.
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Three of the bombers were killed when they detonated vests laden with explosives, the alliance said, and three others were fatally shot before they could set off their bombs. No NATO casualties were reported...

There's no denying the Taliban are certainly more aggressive and audacious this summer; the attack on the French (who certainly seem to have been rather complacent to be so effectively ambushed) was clearly aimed at French public opinion, not supportive of the stepped-up combat role President Sarkozy has assigned to the new French contingent that is arriving--and which is going to an area that, it was reported, "...does not suffer the regular insurgent violence plaguing southern Afghanistan, but has seen some attacks..." Well, the Taliban have certainly put paid to that notion.

And it was the new contingent that was ambushed:

...
The French soldiers, part of an elite paratrooper unit, had only recently taken over from American forces in the area as part of the expanded French deployment in Afghanistan under President Nicolas Sarkozy...

More details here from Le Monde--but the Globe and Mail story gets the facts wrong:

...
A supplementary contingent of 700 soldiers, representing Mr. Sarkozy's pledge in April to shoulder more of the NATO burden in Afghanistan, has just started to arrive. It was expected to be at full strength, operating out of the province of Kapisa near the capital, by the end of this month.

The units trapped in the ambush were not part of the new French deployment...

Funny, one of the reporters, Gloria Galloway, just wrote that "Journalists live for details." I guess that part of the story was written by the other reporter, Susan Sachs.

President Sarkozy has certainly done the right thing in flying immediately to Kabul, and in standing firm (note the last para, which may help explain complacency):

President Sarkozy told French forces in Kabul today that the deaths of nine soldiers in battle would do nothing to shake his resolve to keep France in Afghanistan and fight the global war against terrorism.

The President flew to Kabul overnight with Bernard Kouchner and the commanders of the French forces as France reacted with shock to its heaviest combat toll since 1983.

A 10th soldier was killed in a road accident after the bloody eight-hour battle in which patrolling paratroops were pinned down for 10 hours in an ambush 30 miles east of Kabul. Twenty-one were wounded in the hillside engagement.

"I have no doubt that we must be here," Mr Sarkozy told members of France's 3,000 strong Afghan contingent at Camp Warehouse, on the outskirts of Kabul.
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"I am also in shock... but I tell you in good conscience that if we had to do it again, I would do it again. Not the patrol and the sequence of events, but the choice which led me to confirm the decision of my predecessors to send the French army here."

He added: "Why are we here? It is because here we play a part in the freedom of the the world. Here we are fighting against terrorism [not words often heard from our prime minister - MC]."..

Questions were also being asked about the tactics of the French units, from a tough paratroop regiment and the Foreign Legion, which fell victim to the ambush. The patrol was not in the eastern combat zone to which the French reinforcements have been sent. They were operating in familiar territory which has been under French control for years.

Meanwhile Bravo Zulu to the Toronto Star (gasp!):

The Taliban's big lie

Update: In response to Josh's comment, I would say I was right about the French being "complacent":

French general sees overconfidence in Afghan deaths