TA - Explosion Knockback

Men and women screamed as white-hot shrapnel blew through their bodies. Brett could hear it all the way from the embassy. It was a classic technique, and Brett knew he should have seen it coming: use a first bombing as a magnet for help, then hit with a larger second bomb, taking out the relief force. He silently cursed himself.

“All troops back to the embassy, fall back to the embassy,” he shouted at his aide. “They’re coming…”

That’s when Brett saw it.

Approaching slowly but steadily, bouncing along the poorly paved road, a white van. The big black letters “UN” marked its side.

The driver’s mouth moved in a silent whisper. Over and over, over and over.

Allahu akbar.

The explosion rocked the building, blowing Brett off his feet, grabbing his lungs and squeezing the air out of them. He struggled to his knees as streams of Taliban fighters sprinted through the gaping, flaming hole in the fence.

Brett had just enough time to marvel in grim admiration at the planning—the Taliban had obviously infiltrated dozens of fighters into the nearby homes. And it wasn’t just the fighters in the streets: women and children had now occupied the square, and were throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at the embassy, providing civilian cover for the Taliban. If the Americans opened fire, they’d be blamed for a massacre.

- True Allegiance, Part 1: Brett