US words ring hollow after Taleban strikes in Afghanistan

American claims to have reversed the insurgents’ momentum in Afghanistan rang inauspiciously hollow yesterday, as military hospitals were over-run with record numbers of casualties from a spate of Taleban attacks.

At least five people were killed and 108 injured in separate attacks making Saturday one of the bloodiest days for US forces in the decade-long war.

The worst toll was in Wardak, roughly 50 miles south west of Kabul, where a truck bomb outside an American base left two people dead and 101 others wounded, including 77 American soldiers and two US civilians.

Officials said the force of the explosion ripped a 20ft hole in the camp’s defensive wall, set parts of the outpost on fire and damaged a military surveillance balloon.

A security assessment seen by The Scotsman claimed at least 27 American soldiers suffered Category A injuries, which is the military’s most serious designation for wounds which require immediate medical treatment.

A western official said 59 of the wounded were evacuated for further medical treatment, although Nato said in a statement that none of the injuries were immediately life threatening.

“A Taleban suicide bomber detonated a large vehicle-borne improvised explosive device at the entrance of Combat Outpost Sayed Abad, Wardak province, yesterday,” the statement said. “Most of the force of the explosion was absorbed by the protective barrier at the outpost entrance and though there were a significant number of injuries, all are being treated and none is immediately life threatening.”

Two hours after the attack in Wardak, a salvo of five rockets rained down on Bagram Air Field, the main American base in Afghanistan, north of Kabul. At least two Afghan security guards were killed, and seven others injured, including three American soldiers.

A commemorative run around the air-field – 9.11 miles to mark the tenth anniversary of 9/11 was cancelled amid fears of further bombardment.

The fifth death was announced in a statement at 5am this morning. Nato said a soldier was killed in an “insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan”.

Yet barely five hours after that announcement, General John Allen, the commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, told officials at the American embassy that “we have reversed the momentum of the insurgents”.

After a moment’s silence at 9.11am, General Allen gave guests at the embassy a particularly bullish assessment of the war. “On this sacred day of remembrance, I can say we are on the path of success in Afghanistan,” he said.

The US ambassador, Ryan Crocker, gave a more measured assessment, stressing America’s commitment to Afghanistan in the long term. “Much has been done; many challenges remain,” he said. “We are and will remain committed to Afghanistan and the region.”

Security had been stepped up across Afghanistan in recent weeks, amid fears of “spectacular” attacks timed to coincide with the tenth anniversary of 9/11, and parts of Kabul remain sealed off amid reports that more attacks may be imminent.

However, for most Afghans the anniversary passed unnoticed. A survey by the International Council on Security and Development in southern Afghanistan last year found that fewer than one in ten respondents in Helmand and Kandahar provinces were aware of the link between 9/11 and the invasion of Afghanistan.

The truck bomb came in the same province where 30 American soldiers – including 22 Navy SEALs – were killed last month