airpower in a single incident since the Vietnam War." The eight destroyed or damaged aircraft constituted six percent of the USMC's inventory of Harrier attack jets. The attack was described as "the worst loss of U.S. Three refuelling stations were destroyed and six soft-skin aircraft hangars damaged. ![]() Six AV-8B Harrier IIs and a United States Air Force C-130 were destroyed and another two Harriers severely damaged. Seventeen US and UK personnel were injured. Atwell and Raible were killed by a single RPG round which exploded in the air above them. Killed nearby was USMC mechanic Sergeant Bradley Atwell, 27, while taking cover behind ground support equipment on the flight line. A piece of shrapnel from the rocket struck him in the neck, causing him to bleed to the point of incapacity before effectively organizing a defense. Raible, after hearing several explosions outside the building, left his office to investigate when the rocket struck. The rocket struck the side of the building containing the medical section. ![]() ĭuring the early portion of the fighting, the VMA-211 squadron commander, Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Raible, 40, was killed when an anti-personnel rocket propelled grenade struck the side of the building that houses the squadrons work spaces. The fifth insurgent was injured and captured. The final group of five insurgents was detected near the flight line hours later and four were killed by gunfire from the RAF quick reaction force and orbiting helicopters. 51 Squadron RAF Regiment and USMC forces in a compound near their entry point. A second group of five insurgents was flushed out of hiding hours later and shot by No. Marines from VMM-161 killed one group of five Taliban with small arms fire as they tried to advance down the flight line area. This was the first time the squadron had fought as infantry since the Battle of Wake Island, when most of their planes had been destroyed in a surprise Japanese attack. Some of the pilots and maintainers from Marine Attack Squadron 211 (VMA-211) also fought as infantrymen, killing one attacker and injuring another who was trying to fire an RPG at a group defending the flight line. The RAF troops, who were located on the opposite side of the huge base, arrived at the scene approximately 12 minutes after the attack began. 51 Squadron RAF Regiment, along with helicopter support supplied by a British Apache AH1, a USMC AH-1W SuperCobra and machine-gun equipped UH-1Y Venoms from the USMC unit HMLA-469, which took off while under fire from the insurgents. The attackers were killed or captured during a four-hour firefight by US Marines and the No. The group that attacked the aircraft attached explosive charges to several jets, then fired rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) at others. Another group attacked the aircraft, and the last group was engaged at the base cryogenics compound. One team engaged a group of USMC mechanics from VMM-161 who were in the area the same team also attacked the aircraft refueling stations. The assault team penetrated the perimeter of the camp, guarded by troops from the United Kingdom and Tonga, and separated into three teams to carry out the attack. The raid was a complex and coordinated assault by 15 Taliban fighters, wearing ACU pattern camouflage and using several types of weapons, which took place on the eastern side of Camp Bastion near the US Marine's aircraft hangars at 22:00 local time (17:30 GMT). To replace the aircraft lost in the attack, the USMC deployed 14 Harriers to Afghanistan 36 hours after the raid. The Taliban claimed that the raid was in response to the film, Innocence of Muslims, and have also stated that Prince Harry, who was stationed at the base at the time, was the target of the attack. Marine Corps AV-8B Harriers before the entire raiding force was killed or captured. ![]() Marines and destroyed or severely damaged eight U.S. The base hosted British, American and Tongan military personnel at the time of the attack. The September 2012 raid on Camp Bastion raid was a Taliban raid on Camp Bastion in Afghanistan's Helmand province on the night of 14 September 2012.
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