Posted on 06/04/2004 7:54:43 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
U.S. Troops Kill 17 Afghanistan Militants
21 minutes ago
KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S.-led forces backed by warplanes killed 17 militants in the mountains of southern Afghanistan (news - web sites), the American military confirmed Friday, the bloodiest battle with Taliban-led insurgents in almost a year.
AP Photo Slideshow: Afghanistan
Afghan officials reported the clash Thursday, saying American and Afghan troops attacked insurgents in the Miana Shien district of Kandahar province, some 150 miles southwest of the capital, Kabul.
Three U.S. Marines were slightly wounded in the fighting, which killed 17 combatants, Master Sgt. Cindy Beam, an American military spokeswoman, said in an e-mail statement.
Khalid Pashtun, spokesman for the Kandahar provincial government, said Thursday that 13 suspected Taliban were killed and eight were arrested in the fighting, which began late Wednesday and ended Thursday afternoon.
Pashtun said some 300 Afghan soldiers and a smaller number of Americans had skirmished repeatedly with gunmen in the mountains of an area called Purlaiz.
Beam confirmed the joint operation and that U.S. warplanes joined the fray, but she gave no other details.
The clash appeared to be the most deadly since fierce fighting in late August and early September in the mountains of neighboring Zabul province, during which more than 100 Taliban are believed to have died. One American special operations soldier also was killed.
Militants since have changed tactics, operating in smaller groups that have killed scores of aid workers and government officials as well as Afghan and foreign troops, defying stepped-up U.S. operations and casting a shadow over preparations for September elections.
On Wednesday, the Taliban claimed the killing of five relief workers, including three foreigners, in northwestern Afghanistan, the deadliest assault yet on international aid agencies.
Earlier this week, U.S. special forces killed several militants in Zabul. Four U.S. special forces were killed May 29 in the same province when a mine exploded under their Humvee.
It's all a part of the political correctedness. And a sham.
Thanks Coop.
Great letter.
Semper Fi.
Thank you US Troops!
Is this the Taliban's MASSIVE Spring Offensive the media has been talking about?
CNN just reported there were 100 Taliban and Al Qaeda involved in this fight.
I'm sure they were wounded more seriously than John Kerry. Otherwise they would not have been reported as being wounded at all.
Thanks for posting the letter.
Over time this country may be a larger challenge than Iraq.
At least they have oil.
Kill them !! Kill those who send them!! Kill those who celebrate what they do!!
Because AP is still busy shaving achmed's corpse and putting a wedding dress on so they can claim we bombed another wedding.
Thank you US Marines!
Thats all?? Next time tripple it!
Thanks. I read the letter on Blackfive. I am trying to figure out if these are the same guys we worked with (they have renumbered the units, and renamed them from BANA which was an English acronym to Khandak (battalions), a renaming which was very pleasing to the Afghans.
While I was there, French soldiers were doing basic training and an NCO academy, and US Army Special Forces were doing advanced training and acting as unit advisors -- much like this Marine says he is doing now. It was a very ordinary SF mission but the conventional Army wanted in. IMHO it is much, much better in the hands of the Marines than soldiers of a US infantry division. The other services make fun of the Marines, but the Marines *think*.
The one real loss is that the Marines don't have good medics, or I should say, as good medics as special operations elements do. It is a huge boost to morale to know that you have a couple guys who could intubate you, crack your chest or do a cutdown to an artery.
The units are carefully recruited to have a representative ethnic/racial/tribal mixture both overall and in key positions. Of course, many of the troops retain a loyalty to their home family, tribe and warlord...
If the battalion I saw and operated with was any indication (and Operation Roll Tide was the ANA's first combat mission) they are going to be alright.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
Personally I am surprised they didn't call them heroic martyrs.
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