Six fighter aircraft Harrier AV-8B were destroyed during attack Camp Bastion in Afghanistan 1609121

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Defense News - Afghanistan
 
 
Sunday, September 16, 2012, 10:37 AM
 
Six fighter aircraft Harrier AV-8B were destroyed during an attack of Camp Bastion in Afghanistan.
A September 14 Taliban attack on NATO’s Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, where Britain’s Prince Harry is reportedly stationed, resulted in the destruction of six jet aircraft Harrier AV-8B of U.S. Marine Corps and damage to two others, the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said in a statement issued on Sunday, 16 September 2012.
     

United States Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier fighter aircraft in Afghanistan
     

Approximately 15 insurgents who “appeared to be well-equipped, trained and rehearsed” carried out the nighttime attack, penetrating the base’s perimeter fence and attacking aircraft on the flight line, ISAF said in the statement, which provides new details concerning the attack.

The attackers, who were armed with “automatic rifles, rocket propelled grenades and suicide vests,” destroyed six AV-8B Harrier jets, “significantly damaged” two others, destroyed two refueling stations and damaged six “soft-skinned aircraft hangars to some degree.”

Fourteen of the attackers were killed and one was captured.

Two coalition troops were killed in the attack and nine other coalition personnel suffered injuries, none life threatening, ISAF said. It did not specify the nationalities of the coalition troops who died, but earlier media reports said they were U.S. Marines.