Free Republic

Militants armed with rockets have attacked the main Allied military base in Afghanistan, leaving at least two people dead and a number of others hurt. The perimeter of Camp Bastion was breached as it was hit by small arms fire and there was major damage to buildings, an aircraft hangar and several military jets. The two soldiers killed are thought to have been US Marines. This facility is often subject to indirect fire, but officials in Afghanistan say the damage that has resulted is far more severe than normal. The attack was launched in the US area of the base.

<p>KABUL—The Taliban's weekend assault on a major coalition base was one of the most determined and effective ever seen in Afghanistan, according to details released Sunday, destroying six U.S. combat jets and damaging two others.</p> <p>In addition to the Taliban strike, which killed two U.S. Marines Friday night, two separate insider attacks by Afghan service members claimed the lives of six coalition troops. A lethal coalition airstrike, meanwhile, threatened to raise additional tensions in the country, amid reports of civilian casualties.</p>

WASHINGTON — It was another week at war in Afghanistan, another string of American casualties, and another collective shrug by a nation weary of a faraway conflict whose hallmark is its grinding inconclusiveness. After nearly 11 years, many by now have grown numb to the sting of losing soldiers like Pfc. Shane W. Cantu of Corunna, Mich. He died of shrapnel wounds in the remoteness of eastern Afghanistan, not far from the getaway route that Osama bin Laden took when U.S. forces invaded after Sept. 11, 2001, and began America's longest war. Cantu was 10 back then. Nearly every day...

On August 6, 2011, 30 US service members killed when a CH-47 Chinook helicopter they were being transported in crashed in Wardak province, Afghanistan. It was the deadliest single loss for U.S. forces in the decade-long war in Afghanistan. 17 members of the elite Navy SEALs were killed in the crash. Yesterday, Karen and Billy Vaughn, parents of Aaron Carson Vaughn, spoke at the Defending the Defenders forum sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots outside the RNC Convention in Tampa. Karen brought a copy of the form letter they were sent following their son’s death. It’s a form letter. It...

August 16, 2012: Seven American soldiers were killed Thursday when their helicopter crashed in Kandahar Province in southern Afghanistan, U.S. officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for shooting down the helicopter, although the insurgency often exaggerates its victories and is quick to claim responsibility for any incident involving foreign troop deaths. The area where the helicopter went down is an insurgent hotbed and supply route, lying north of Kandahar city near volatile Zabul and Uruzgan provinces. This story is still developing. R.I.P.

Pendleton captain killed by Afghan police SAN DIEGO - A captain based at Pendleton was one of three Marines killed Friday in Helmand province by an Afghan police officer with whom he had just shared a meal, it was reported Saturday. Matt Manoukian, 29, of Los Altos Hills, was killed after being invited by an Afghan police commander to a meeting in Sangin district, long a Taliban stronghold, to discuss security issues, The U-T San Diego reported. Before the meeting, Manoukian and the other two Marines killed shared a meal with their killer. The attack was the third of its...

We lost one today and 6 still waiting to see how they are doing.

3 Italy-based U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan VICENZA ITALY JULY 25, 2012 BY: SUSY RAYBON The Pentagon announced today the deaths of three Italy-based soldiers who were killed while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Pfc. Adam C. Ross, 19, of Lyman, S.C., died July 24, 2012, in Wardak province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when he encountered small arms fire. Ross was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Vicenza, Italy. Of note, the DOD announced last week that the base in Vicenza, Italy, is soon to be closed under the Base Realignment and...

Spring Grove soldier laid to rest Hundreds attend services for the fallen soldier on Saturday. By TIM STONESIFER For the Daily Record/Sunday News ork, PA - In the silence, you could hear the fabric rub together as the flag was folded at last into a triangle. There, on a hillside near Spring Grove, a soldier pressed it with white gloves hard to his chest, then raised a hand in salute, motionless. A church bell tolled, a butterfly arced quietly over rows of tombstones, and more than 300 American flags stirred in the breeze along a rutted road. The first crack...

Six American troops were killed in a roadside blast today in eastern Afghanistan, a U.S. official told ABC News. Details about the deadly incident remain vague. Earlier today, a press release by NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said six ISAF servicemembers “died following an improvised explosive device attack in eastern Afghanistan today.” The nationalities of the victims were not identified because “it is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities,” the statement said. A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that the six killed in today’s attack were Americans, but did not have specific details...

There are photos of 139 Arizonans — of which seven are from Cochise County — who are part of the Remembering Our Fallen From Arizona traveling memorial, which begins a nearly two week display at The Mall at Sierra Vista Thursday. At 11:30 Thursday morning a public event at which Army Maj. Gen. Jennifer Napper, commander of the Network Enterprise Technology Command on Fort Huachuca, will open the display to the public near the Sears entrance inside the mall during a short ceremony, which will include a ribbon cutting. The opening is part of recognizing the 237th birthday of the...

The CIA has revealed the identities of 15 of its fallen officers, some of whose secret ties to the spy agency are being made public for the first time in almost three decades. Engraved on a memorial wall at the CIA's headquarters building in Northern Virginia are 103 stars, each representing a CIA officer who perished in the line of duty since the agency's founding in 1947. For some, the star is all recognition they have - many names have still not been made public out of concern for secret operations. At a memorial ceremony Monday, CIA Director David Petraeus...

KABUL -- A man wearing an Afghan National Army uniform opened fire on coalition troops in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, killing an American and wounding two others, officials said. "An Afghan Army soldier turned his weapon against US soldiers inside an Afghan-US military base in Kunar Province, killing one US soldier and injuring two others," provincial police chief Ewaz Mohammad Naziri told AFP. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. http://www.myfoxny.com/story/18306795/man-wearing-afghan-army-uniform-shoots-dead-isaf-soldier

Two Fort Stewart soldiers were killed in Afghanistan. 25 year old Sgt. Joshua A. Born of Niceville, Florida and 22 year old Cpl. Timothy J. Conrad Jr. of Roanoke, Va. died Feb. 23, in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when their unit came under small arms fire. They were assigned to the 385th Military Police Battalion, 16th Military Police Brigade (Airborne), XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Stewart, Ga. According to an interveiw she did with WPSD-TV in Paducah, Kentucky, Joshua Born's wife lives in Illinois, and found out about her husband's death not through military channels, but when someone sent...

Cpl. T.J. Conrad, who grew up in the Roanoke Valley and graduated from Northside High School, was killed in Afghanistan on Thursday, his father said this afternoon. Conrad, 22, was one of two American troops who was shot and killed by a man wearing Afghan military or police fatigues during a protest over the burning of Qurans on a U.S. air base, according to Tim Conrad. “It was basically an ambush,” said Tim Conrad. T.J. Conrad leaves behind a wife and 7-month-old son.

Seven Marines died when their helicopter collided in midair Wednesday night...

An Afghan soldier joined protests on Thursday against the burning of copies of the Muslim holy book at a NATO base and shot dead two foreign troops, western military sources said. The killings came hours after the Taliban urged Afghans to target foreign military bases and kill Westerners in retaliation for the burning of the Korans at Bagram airfield on Tuesday. Eleven people have died in demonstrations across the country since then and 17 people have been wounded. Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of several cities, chanting "Death to America!" and smashing cars, buildings and shops. In...

Flags will be lowered in New Jersey Saturday, the day of Whitney Houston’s funeral. But a Marine mom in Arlington says it’s an honor Houston doesn’t deserve. When Phyllis McGeath heard Gov. Chris Christie had ordered flags lowered to half-staff for Houston, she said she felt a pain deep inside her. “I was hurt and offended. Disappointed. Saddened,” she said. “I felt like the honor that was given to my son was tarnished.” McGeath had three sons who were active duty Marines. Her oldest, Philip, was killed by a suicide bomber just four weeks ago in Afghanistan. He was 25....

The Air Force dumped the incinerated partial remains of at least 274 American troops in a Virginia landfill, far more than the military had acknowledged, before halting the secretive practice three years ago, records show. The landfill dumping was concealed from families who had authorized the military to dispose of the remains in a dignified and respectful manner, Air Force officials said. There are no plans, they said, to alert those families now. The Air Force had maintained that it could not estimate how many troops might have had their remains sent to a landfill. The practice was revealed last...