Clash after helicopter felled in Afghanistan
Source: Agencies |
August 8, 2011, Monday
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AFGHAN and American forces battled insurgents yesterday in the region where the Taliban shot down a US Army Chinook helicopter a day earlier, killing 30 US troops and eight Afghans.
The fighting was taking place as Nato began an operation to recover the remains of the transport helicopter shot down by insurgents about 97 kilometers southwest of Kabul. The clashes yesterday did not appear to involve the troops around the crash site.
Nato said: "There have been a small number of limited engagements in the same district as yesterday's helicopter crash. However, those clashes have not been in the direct vicinity of the crash site. As of now, we have no reporting to indicate any coalition casualties resulting from these engagements."
Wardak provincial spokesman Shahidullah Shahid confirmed the helicopter recovery mission was under way and said there were reports of Taliban casualties overnight.
He said "There is a joint operation going on by Afghan and Nato forces. A clearing operation is ongoing in the district and there are reports of casualties among insurgents. The area is still surrounded by American forces."
Elsewhere in Afghanistan, Nato said insurgents killed four alliance service members in two separate attacks in the east and the south. It did not give their nationalities or any other details.
The deaths bring to 369 the number of coalition troops killed this year in Afghanistan, and 46 this month.
The downing of the Chinook early on Saturday was the deadliest single loss for American forces in the decade-old war in Afghanistan.
The US-led coalition said 30 American service members, an Afghan civilian interpreter and seven Afghan commandos were killed.
Sources said the Americans included 22 navy Seals - a specialist military unit - three air force combat controllers and a dog handler, his dog and four crew members.
Most of the Seals belonged to the same elite unit that killed Osama bin Laden, although they were not the same people who participated in the May raid into Pakistan that killed the al-Qaida leader.
The downing was a stinging blow to the tight-knit Seal Team 6, months after its crowning achievement. It was also a heavy setback for the US-led coalition as it begins to draw down thousands of combat troops fighting what has become an increasingly costly and unpopular war.
Although there are thousands of special operations forces in Afghanistan, often taking part in dozens of night raids a month, their deployment in the raid in which the helicopter crashed would suggest the target was a high-ranking insurgent. However, there has been no official word on the target of the raid.
The fighting was taking place as Nato began an operation to recover the remains of the transport helicopter shot down by insurgents about 97 kilometers southwest of Kabul. The clashes yesterday did not appear to involve the troops around the crash site.
Nato said: "There have been a small number of limited engagements in the same district as yesterday's helicopter crash. However, those clashes have not been in the direct vicinity of the crash site. As of now, we have no reporting to indicate any coalition casualties resulting from these engagements."
Wardak provincial spokesman Shahidullah Shahid confirmed the helicopter recovery mission was under way and said there were reports of Taliban casualties overnight.
He said "There is a joint operation going on by Afghan and Nato forces. A clearing operation is ongoing in the district and there are reports of casualties among insurgents. The area is still surrounded by American forces."
Elsewhere in Afghanistan, Nato said insurgents killed four alliance service members in two separate attacks in the east and the south. It did not give their nationalities or any other details.
The deaths bring to 369 the number of coalition troops killed this year in Afghanistan, and 46 this month.
The downing of the Chinook early on Saturday was the deadliest single loss for American forces in the decade-old war in Afghanistan.
The US-led coalition said 30 American service members, an Afghan civilian interpreter and seven Afghan commandos were killed.
Sources said the Americans included 22 navy Seals - a specialist military unit - three air force combat controllers and a dog handler, his dog and four crew members.
Most of the Seals belonged to the same elite unit that killed Osama bin Laden, although they were not the same people who participated in the May raid into Pakistan that killed the al-Qaida leader.
The downing was a stinging blow to the tight-knit Seal Team 6, months after its crowning achievement. It was also a heavy setback for the US-led coalition as it begins to draw down thousands of combat troops fighting what has become an increasingly costly and unpopular war.
Although there are thousands of special operations forces in Afghanistan, often taking part in dozens of night raids a month, their deployment in the raid in which the helicopter crashed would suggest the target was a high-ranking insurgent. However, there has been no official word on the target of the raid.
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