Uzbin Valley ambush

34°39′42.89″N 69°50′56.91″E / 34.6619139°N 69.8491417°E / 34.6619139; 69.8491417

Uzbin Valley Ambush
Part of the War in Afghanistan
Map the districts of Kabul, with Spēṟ Kunday marked in red.
Date 18 August 2008 Location Surobi District, Afghanistan Result See aftermath
Belligerents
ISAF  France  United States  Norway  Islamic Republic of Afghanistan	Taliban[1] Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin[2]
Commanders and leaders
Capitaine Arnaud Crézé[3] Colonel de Cevins	Zabihullah Mujahed[1] Khalid Farooqi[1] Omar Khattab[1] Mullah Rahmatullah[2]
Strength
102 troops ambushed initially (60 French, 30 Afghans and 12 Americans) Later reinforcements: 300 French troops dozens of VAB APCs 2 French Caracal helicopters 2 US F-15 Eagle 2 US UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters a number of US A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft US Kiowa helicopters	140 Taliban insurgents initially[4] 150 reinforcements[5]
Casualties and losses
10 killed[6] 21 wounded[6] 1 killed and 4 wounded[7]	French claim: 30-80[7][8] killed, 18[7]-30 wounded[9][10] Taliban claim: 10 killed

French International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops were ambushed by Afghan Taliban insurgents, with heavy casualties, in the Uzbin Valley outside the village of Spēṟ Kunday in the Surobi District of Kabul province in eastern Afghanistan on 18 August 2008.

In the ambush and subsequent counter-attack operations involving reinforcements, 10 French soldiers were killed as well as the Afghan interpreter, 21 French soldiers as well as 2 to 4 Afghan soldiers were wounded and 20 to 40 civilians also lost their lives. The casualties for the French army were the highest single day loss since the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings which killed 58 French soldiers.

Reports in France as well as a NATO one about the incident summarised that the surviving members of the initial coalition forces were "lucky to escape" arguing that they were not adequately supplied and equipped for the ambush and lacked preparation, while facing a planned attack by a well-prepared enemy. However, this version was denied by the French government and the NATO report was dismissed by NATO as a "mere field report" redacted by a soldier embedded in the patrol and featuring errors.^[2]

Later reports by the British newspaper The Times claimed that when the French group took over duties from the Italians, the relative calm of the region until that point had only been obtained by bribery, something the French were unaware of and which led to the assumption that the zone was largely secured already.^[11] But these claims were never confirmed, with the Italian Prime Minister calling them "totally baseless accusations". The French military likewise denied the accusations leveled against the Italians.^[12]