KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban insurgents who attacked an American-run NATO base near the Pakistan border on Sunday numbered as many as 200 and some managed to breach the walls of the outpost in what was a well-planned attack that took the soldiers on the base by surprise, officials said Monday.
The insurgents, who were repulsed, came so close that some of their corpses were lying around the base afterwards, Tamim Nuristani, the former governor of the region said after talking to officials in the district. A Western official requesting anonymity also confirmed that the Taliban did breach part of the base.
The attack on the base in Kunar Province left nine American soldiers dead, the worst single loss for the American military in Afghanistan since June 2005 and one of the worst since the Taliban and their Al Qaeda associates were routed in late 2001.
American and NATO military officials said the attack reflected the Taliban’s resurgence from new bases in neighboring Pakistan and underscored the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, where war casualties have jumped this year.......
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