More on Wanat and the Waygal Valley

Updated August 23:

US forces abandoned their post at Wanat in the Waygal Valley of Nuristan after the major attack over the weekend in which the base was nearly overrun and 9 US troops were killed and 15 more were wounded.

The town's name is actually Want, according to Richard Strand, an anthropologist and linguist who has done a lot of work in the area.

Here is a blog full of excellent pictures of the area in question. It's written by Joel Bashore, a US Navy Physician's Assistant working with the troops in that part of Afghanistan. The town of Want is not shown in the photos, but Firebase Bela is. Firebase Bela is about 5 miles north of Want on the Waygal River where it meets with a tributary coming from the Aranas area.

This Youtube video made by US soldiers is all about Camp Bela and the 173rd Airborne Brigade, US Army. A soldier interviewed in the video, Team Leader Sergeant Jeffery Mersman, was killed along with five other troops in an ambush last year on 11-9-2007 in this very area. US forces also had a base at Aranas.

Here is an interesting description by Bashore of his trip from Camp Blessing at Nangalam up the Waygal Valley, fording the Waygal at Camp Bela, and on foot to FOB Aranas.

There have been a number of deadly attacks against US forces in this part of Afghanistan. The guerrillas here are some of the best in Afghanistan. I think they are protecting Osama bin Laden, because I think he hides in Nuristan at least part of the time. Clearly there are top-notch Al Qaeda fighters up here.

A map of Wanat is available on this blog ( map of Nuristan). The map also shows the Waygal Valley, Waygal River, Nangalam (where Camp Blessing is located), the location of Firebase Bela and Aranas. All are located in or near the Waygal District on the map.

In the past two years, there have been some major attacks in the Waygal Valley:

August 2006: Three US soldiers killed in an ambush between Aranas and Bella.

October 2006: Three soldiers killed by an IED between Want and Bella.

June 2007: The police station at Want was attacked and overrun by insurgents. At least one policeman was killed.

August 2007: Two ANA soldiers killed, 11 US wounded when insurgents entered the FOB at Aranas disguised as ANA soldiers.

November 9, 2007: Six US soldiers killed, eight more wounded in an ambush between Bella and Aranas. 11 Afghan soldiers were also wounded. All told, there were 6 Coalition forces killed and 19 wounded in this major attack. The video shows the troops being medevac'd out after the attack. This operation took 31 hours in all. The troops were being picked right off the edges of cliffs.

The FOB at Aranas has been eliminated.

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