Uzbin Valley ambush 2008
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 18 August 2008 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 2008 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Post-1945 (1946 onwards) | derived from year |
| Location | Afghanistan | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment, 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment, Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, France, Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin, Khalid Farooqi, Régiment de marche du Tchad, Taliban, United States, United States Army Special Forces | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 34.6592, 69.8489 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
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 and 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" written by a soldier embedded in the patrol and featuring errors.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Uzbin Valley ambush (revision 1370748996), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Alasay 2009 · 29 km
- Battle of Gandamak 1842 · 45 km
- Siege of Jalalabad (1928–1929) 1928 · 60 km
- Battle of Jalalabad (1842) 1841 · 61 km
- Fall of Kabul (2001) 2001 · 63 km
- Kabul Expedition (1842) 1842 · 63 km
Other battles of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
- Siege of Musa Qala 2006
- Battle of Chora 2007
- Battle of Firebase Anaconda 2007
- Battle of Musa Qala 2007
- Operation Achilles 2007
- Battle of Arghandab (2008) 2008
- Battle of Ebrahimkhel 2008
- Battle of Shewan 2008
- Battle of Wanat 2008
- Battle of Alasay 2009
All 33 battles of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) →
Browse more: battles in Afghanistan · Asia · Post-1945 battles