Another four German soldiers killed in Baghlan

M

Moloch

Active member
A patrol of German, Belgian and Afghan soldiers has been ambushed today at about 14.30 local time. Four German soldiers have been killed when their vehicle ran over an IED during the firefight, which was still going on at 18.30. Nothing about casualties among the Belgian soldiers, but I got the news from the official site of German Bundeswehr, so I don't know if this means they didn't take any casualties.

:salute2:

R.I.P
Nur die besten sterben jung...
 
Report from www.dw-world.de

Four German soldiers killed in Afghanistan



Four German soldiers have been killed and several others wounded in a clash in Afghanistan as they came under fire near the northern city of Baghlan, near Kunduz.
The German Defense Ministry has announced that four German troops were killed in Afghanistan, while on patrol in the north of the country.
According to reports, the four soldiers were killed and several others wounded when their patrol came under attack travelling between Kunduz and Baghlan. Fighting broke out after a German armored vehicle was struck by what was believed to be a rocket, close to Pol-i-Khomri camp.
During a visit to the United States, German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her sympathies to the families of the soldiers who were killed or injured. But she said the German military's mission in Afghanistan would continue.
"I see no sensible alternative," she said in a statement to reporters in San Francisco.
Guttenberg returns
German Defense Minister Karl-Theodore zu Guttenberg, who had left Afghanistan after a two day visit, decided to return to the country after briefly landing in Uzbekistan.
Guttenberg said in a statement that he was "deeply saddened" by the news and that he and military chief Volker Wieker would return to the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif "to be with our soldiers".
Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle condemned the "treacherous attack" and said the tragedy "touches all Germans." He added the attack "also touches the great majority of the Afghan people, who detest this terror as much as we do."
This brings to 43 the number of German soldiers killed in Afghanistan since the Bundeswehr's mission there began in 2002. Of those, 26 have been killed in firefights or insurgent attacks.
In recent weeks, Taliban insurgents have stepped up pressure on the German troops based in the northern province of Kunduz. On April 2, three German soldiers were killed during a mine-clearing expedition.
 
Just saw our flag flying at half mast- again and there was a strange bitter feeling to it- I guess our country is finally starting to pay the price... RIP comrades...

btw.: This is the German answer: tank howitzer 2000 (Panzerhaubitze 2000).
The world's best howitzer at the moment. Germany will send two for now but more to come- get some ;)

PzH2000_houwitser.jpg
 
Glad to see that something happens, even if I doubt that the Pzh will have an impact on the situation in A'stan. Sure, our soldiers now have artillery support in a 40 km radius around those howitzers.
But
a) 40 km may prove to be just not enough and
b) when our guys are being attacked from a village, like so often recently, who would really fire some 155mm shells into it?
Better than nothing, but far from enough IMO...
 
As I said- more to come... People realize that we need more stuff down there... and Airbus is finally finishing some of the planes they wanted to deliver years ago... there is hope. We needed to make our own experiences on the field of war and now we are beginning to learn from it. Too sad that we have to learn with blood but that's the price every nation that was engaged in missions worldwide had to pay... there's just no other way :/
 
Well, the only thing mentioned in the news apart from the two Pzh 2000 was more Marder IFVs and more 'Eagle IV' light armored vehicles. Then again, I'm not in the military right now - perhaps you have a better insight on what might come along...
One thing I don't understand is why attack helicopters are not even considered as an addition to our forces in Afghanistan. The first Tiger pilots are combat ready afaik.
Personally I think that they would be useful as a means of quick intervention in case of an ambush. Sure you could just flatten a whole village from which insurgents are firing with the howitzers (actually, you could do so in a matter of seconds with the Pzh in MRSI-mode)...but that's definitely not the way to go.
Or am I completely wrong and helicopters are no use at the moment because of reasons I don't know about?
 
You are right- I would love to see attack helis out there but we don't have them and Tiger was designed for anti tank warfare... and not for what it would do in the desert of afgh.
 
Mmmh...that's also one of our major problems. A contractor is commissioned to develop a new piece of equipment and 25 years later, when nobody needs the damn thing anymore, we buy it anyway to bolster our defense industry.
Even if the Tiger would be useful in Afghanistan, we couldn't deploy them anyway. The engine can't handle the heat and the altitude, 16 of them will have to undergo a refit with a better engine.
Tiger is a solid design for its original purpose (fighting the massive tank fleets of the Soviet Union), but it should have been axed about 20 years ago, when the USSR collapsed. The 50+ Mi-24 of the GDR (which we would have gotten for free..) are way more versatile. Put some effort (and some of the 6 billion € we spent on the Tiger!!!) into it and you have a more than capable weapons system.
 
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