Blunders by British generals allowed Taliban to carry out attack on Camp Bastion

Blunders by British commanders were ‘devastatingly exploited’ by the Taliban to carry out an attack on Camp Bastion while Prince Harry was deployed in Afghanistan, a damning report says today.

Complacency by senior officers meant security was inadequate, allowing heavily-armed insurgents to storm the supposedly impregnable UK base in 2012.

The defence select committee was also scathing about the Ministry of Defence, accusing officials of being ‘obstructive and unhelpful’ in the face of the committee’s inquiries to establish what had happened. Two US Marines were killed and 16 troops – eight US and eight British – injured when gunmen swarmed through the perimeter fence to assault the airfield, setting off explosions which destroyed six Harrier jump jets and three vehicles. Prince Harry was stationed at Bastion to fly Apache attack helicopters.

The committee found more than half of the guard towers were regularly unmanned despite at least 20 breaches of the perimeter fence in two years. Troops were exposed to ‘unnecessary risk’ because UK commanders, who were responsible for security, had not put in place sufficient safeguards to ensure a Taliban attack was foiled.

Following a US investigation into the incident, two generals were ordered to quit. Incredibly, no-one from Britain has paid the price for the fiasco. The Mail understands at least four officers involved have been promoted.

In a highly critical conclusion, the cross-party committee said: ‘We are concerned that the perimeter security and force protection measures in place at the time of the attack were inadequate. ‘Insufficient attention was given to the fundamental requirement of defending Camp Bastion from external assault.

'We believe this was complacent. Given that the attack took place in the British sector of the camp, British commanders must bear a degree of responsibility for these systemic failures.’

The attack on Camp Bastion, which sprawls over 20 sq miles of Helmand, southern Afghanistan, took place on September 14, 2012. At 10pm, 15 Taliban fighters wearing stolen US military uniforms crept towards the base which was ringed by a 30ft wire fence. They cut through the wire and destroyed planes, vehicles and equipment. A three-hour gun battle raged involving 50 British troops, some of whom won medals for bravery. As well as the coalition casualties, 14 Taliban were killed. The surviving gunman was captured.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said: ‘The MoD is not complacent and always seeks to capture and learn lessons from current operations. UK commanders have identified and acted upon all lessons following the attack on Camp Bastion in 2012.’

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