According to the NYT, the force which came under attack consisted of 45 Americans, and 25 Afghans. Of that number, 9 Americans were killed, and another 15 Americans were wounded. Only 4 Afghans are reported as being wounded, and later those wounds are referred to as “light”. In addition, those wounds are implied to have happened during the initial bombardment by AQ, which happened prior to the storming of the base.

It initially appears as if the Afghans contributed little during the actual fighting, and time will tell whether they sat it out, or abetted in the AQ in attempting to overrun the base.

Much surprise is being evinced by commentators from the military and the press about the frontal attack. As a sidenote, one wonders if such an costly attack was designed to secure US hostages for the upcoming political season in the US. Simply overrunning a base seems implausible.