US embassy in Kabul attacked on Christmas Day

Associated Press ^ | Dec 25, 2013 4:39 AM EST | Amir Shah

[Olog-hai]

The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan says its compound was hit by indirect fire just before dawn on Christmas Day. It says no Americans were injured. […]

The Taliban claimed they fired four rockets at the embassy on Wednesday and inflicted heavy casualties. But the insurgents often exaggerate their claims. …

[marron]

The restoration of the U.S.A. starts with filling the pews at every Bible-believing church.

Thank you. Yes.

[freepersup]

Roger. Tough news for the folks back home. RIP to the 2 killed near your position. Our troops? Coalition forces?

I was housed in a tent where the previous occupants had started to wrap the perimeter with sandbags. On my side, the bags were only stacked about 30” in height. We took a little initiative and went to the sand pile and filled enough bags to raise the walls to shoulder height. Of course that only provided protection during sleep and doesn’t stop a direct hit coming in from above.

Down, several rows of tents, a 107 round hit out front. Most of the shrapnel was stopped by a 5 ton a/c unit. Two KBR employees were in the bunks in the front. One got a piece of shrapnel in the leg... the other caught a piece under the chin exiting out the back of his head. He’s spending the rest of his days in a nursing home. There weren’t any sandbags around the tents perimeter. I doubt the family knew this fact. People get too comfortable in their surroundings and forget where the hell they are.

Last 107 attack for me (12 rounds inbound) - 5 locals killed, 16 wounded (2 of which were ours). I hugged the ground, taking cover behind a curb. It wasn’t much... but it was enough.

[Salvavida]

2 of ours.

[freepersup]

Thanks for the follow up. Godspeed wherever you are calling home. As Christmas Day winds down... a salute to all those in harms way. AT-TEN-TION! PRE-SENT ARMS!!! OR-DER ARMS! DISMISSED!

[freepersup]

also- DIGGING YOUR TAGLINE!

[Salvavida]

Many thanks. We took 3 rockets Christmas night. One minor injury.

[OldEagle]

Since you know about rockets, are they indirect fire??

[freepersup]

It's basically a term describing any weapon's firing position with regards to it's intended target and where line of sight is absent.

When city idiots fire guns into the air at midnight on New Year's Eve, with the rounds landing indiscriminately somewhere else, they've performed an act of indirect fire.

Here's a 107mm rocket set up that is fairly common and simplistic in design. The bad guys line these up in a row by the dozens if they can get away with it. For scale, these rockets are about the size of a household fire extinguisher that would be found under a sink or mounted on the wall. I believe they sport about 2 lbs of TNT like explosive. KAPOW! If they hit compacted gravel, they'll blow a hole in the ground from a few inches to about a foot deep. Gravel will be blown away from about the size of a dinner plate to the size of a pizza pan. There's about a gazillion of them out there.

( ref: wiki ) Indirect fire is most commonly associated with field artillery. It is also used with mortars and naval guns against shore targets, sometimes with machine guns and has been used with tank and anti-tank guns and by anti-aircraft guns against surface targets.