The well-trained, well-equipped attackers that breached the wall of the biggest U.S.-U.K. base in Helmand Province several months ago may have been trained in Pakistan, according to a USA Today report.
From the report:
The Pentagon has long complained to the Pakistani government and military about sanctuaries in Pakistan that put Taliban leaders outside the reach of the U.S. military. The latest intelligence on the Camp Bastion attack shows little has changed, [military] experts say.
Experts, like Mark Jacobson, a former NATO official in Afghanistan at the German Marshall Fund, say that Pakistan's murky loyalties put the 2014 withdrawal date at risk.
"Unless the Pakistanis do more about those insurgents crossing the border into Afghanistan, you're going to have a critical security challenge," Jacobson said.
The attack came from two teams of five well-rehearsed men who breached the compound and conducted a coordinated assault on U.S. aircraft. Damage totalled more than $200 million, and a Marine Lt. Colonel lost his life mounting, organizing and leading a counterattack. By his side, a Marine Sergeant, also lost his life when a rocket propelled grenade exploded near both of them.
This new analysis of where Taliban get specialized training and weapons comes in a context of frosty relations between the West and Pakistan. The U.S. has conducted several bombing missions in the country, not to mention the high viz Osama bin Laden raid which prompted American analysts to question if Pakistan always knew he was there.
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