LONDON
Inadequate defenses and a high level of complacency led to the 2012 attack on Camp Bastion, says a UK Defense Committee report.
In the attack on Camp Bastion on 14 September 2012, 15 heavily-armed Taliban insurgents infiltrated the camp and attacked the airfield. The ensuing battle lasted into the next day and resulted in the deaths of US Marine Corps Lieutenant Col Christopher Raible and Sargent Bradley Atwell, the wounding of eight US personnel, eight UK personnel and one civilian contractor and the destruction of six US Harrier fighter planes. US and UK troops killed 14 of the Taliban fighters, and wounded the remaining Taliban fighter, who was detained and later interrogated.
The Committee examined evidence on the incident and concluded that the arrangements for manning of the guard towers around the perimeter of Camp Bastion were “exposed by the attack as inadequate.” The decision to not man a particular guard tower on the night contributed “directly to the failure to detect the insurgents at an early stage, which might have limited the impact of their assault,” the committee said. They said that all guard towers at Bastion are now manned constantly.
The committee also said that they were “unimpressed” by the evidence given by the Chief of Joint operations. The Defense Select Committee said they were told that attacks in Helmand province in Afghanistan were high during 2012, and that International Security Assistance Force commanders were focused on other areas in Helmand instead of the camp. This did not satisfy the committee. They said, “Insufficient attention was given to the fundamental requirement of defending Camp Bastion from external assault, and said it was 'complacent.'" Given that the attack took place in the British sector of the camp, the report said that the “British commanders must bear a degree of responsibility for these systemic failures and associated reputational damage.”
Chairman of the Committee James Arbuthnot says, “We are satisfied that as far as possible, the vulnerabilities which led to this extraordinary attack have now been addressed. But we recommend that the Ministry of Defense capture the lessons identified as part of its wider efforts to learn lessons for future operations.”
The UK went to war in Afghanistan in 2001 following the September 11 attacks. To date, there have been 448 UK deaths in Afghanistan.
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