Taliban launch multiple human bomb attacks in Khost

CNN:

A Taliban suicide bomb squad disguised as regular Afghan army troops stormed a strategic city close to the border with Pakistan Tuesday, prompting a fierce six-hour battle with U.S. troops, local officials and the U.S. military said.

The insurgents attacked a municipal building in the center of the city of Khost, a U.S. military spokesman said. At least 10 suicide bombers were killed in the attacks, which also left five troops and four civilians dead, Afghan police said.

Local police chief Abdul Qayum Baqee Zoi told CNN the attacks, which ended at 4:30 p.m. involved 10 Taliban suicide bombers in Afghan National Army uniforms and explosive vests. Seven detonated and three were shot dead.

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Tuesday's fighting began when U.S. forces responded to a suicide bomber at a government compound in the city and came under heavy attack, the U.S. military spokesman said.

Officials in Khost told CNN that insurgents attacked the municipal building, and the police chief there said attackers killed two police officers, two security guards and two civilians in that incident.

A Taliban spokesman in Afghanistan earlier told CNN 30 Taliban fighters were involved in the attack, and confirmed they were suicide bombers wearing explosive vests.

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This was a some what complex attack, but the Taliban have to be disappointed with the results. Whether it was 10 or 30 human bombs they like to get a much higher kill ratio as a general rule. There problem here is they were attacking a defended location rather than a crowd of civilians and the troops and the police responded in a way that minimized the casualties.

The Afghans will be further alienated from the Taliban because of these attacks which go against the Afghan culture.

The NY Times has more on the attacks. For some reason they give the Taliban credit for the failed attack. While it had some elements of complexity, it ultimately failed. In warfare you should not get extra credit for audacity when you fail. They still lost.