The photographs above chronicle events in the Sabari district of Khost province, Afghanistan on Aug. 15, 2011. The first photograph shows a rocket impact during a complex attack involving three rockets and at least one recoilless rifle round shot from two directions toward Combat Outpost (COP) Sabari. The remainder of the images chronologically depict a subsequent joint US-Afghan Army patrol to search a nearby village for individuals and/or weapons suspected of carrying out the attack on the COP.
During the ensuing search, a US Army infantry squad was attacked with grenades in an enclosed courtyard, and six soldiers were injured. After US and Afghan soldiers returned fire in the direction of the grenade throwers, the Afghan soldiers retreated to their vehicles; this movement left the US squad, nearly half of them injured, trapped in the qalat. With the arrival of air support from F-16s and low-flying Kiowa helicopters, the Americans evacuated their wounded to vehicles 100 yards from the compound, followed by a hectic return to the COP and medevac for three of the most seriously injured.
See Long War Journal report, US troops weather rockets, recoilless rifles, and grenades in Sabari, for more details on the events described above. All photographs by Bill Ardolino for The Long War Journal.
