the battle itself was unexceptional in 2008 afghanistan: the same day, tens of civilians were killed by a car bomb in khost, and suicide bombers had attacked us military installation, yielding a 12-hour battle. two days later, a us airstrike on azizabad killed 90 civilians, 60 of them children. however, the loss of life for the french army represented the most significant single incident since the 1983 beirut barracks bombing, which killed 58 soldiers, and the third greatest single military loss since operation red wings.