HERAT INCIDENT

CENTCOM ^ | September 12, 2004

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

	NEWS RELEASE HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND 7115 South Boundary Boulevard MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101 Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894

September 12, 2004
Release Number: 04-09-33

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


HERAT INCIDENT

Kabul, Afghanistan – At about 8 p.m. Saturday in Herat a coalition vehicle broke down stranding two U.S. soldiers. A crowd throwing rocks approached the U.S. soldiers. An ANA element consisting of approximately 25 soldiers were passing by and stopped to help the U.S. soldiers as they fixed their vehicle. The ANA took control of the situation and one ANA soldier reportedly fired 40-50 warning shots.

No one died in the incident, but two civilians were injured. One regrettably received a gunshot wound to his leg and another was hit by a motorcycle that was leaving the scene. Both were taken to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The Government of Afghanistan is in charge of operation in Herat.

[rhombus]

"Insurgents", "Rebels", "Freedomfighters"?... more likely looters.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

The ANA took control of the situation...

No one died in the incident, but two civilians were injured.

~*~

 

 

 

CFC-A  

 

 Combined Forces Command Afghanistan

 - ping!

 

~*~

 

Troop prayer thread 10 (Bad news for the Taliban!)

[davisfh]

Good post. Good news. Sounds as though legitimate government and security are taking hold in Afghanistan.

I take it that this was released from MacDill by CENTCOM for use by news agencies? I haven't yet read the morning paper but am willing to bet that this will not be in it when I do.

[blackie]

Combined Forces ~ Bump!

[Savage Rider]

"One regrettably received a gunshot wound to his leg ..." I don't regret it. I'm sure the guy with the gunshot wound regrets he was throwing rocks or hanging around in a crowd that was throwing rocks.

[whizzer]

BUMP!!

[Seydlitz]

Herat is Hekmatyar country. Liberals love to claim that the CIA supported bin Laden, but that's not true, The guy we really supported was Hekmatayr, who is now violently anti-American and a puppet of Iran.

[Jacob Kell]

Herast is actually Ismail Khan country, not Hekmatyar. ALso, Hekmatyar was Anti-American from the getgo.

[Seydlitz]

You are correct in that Ismail Khan controls Herat directly, and is a native of the city. However, Herat became the supply nexus for Iranian proxies, such as Hekmatayr, in the months following the fall of the Taliban. It was there that Hekmatayr re-emerged as a force to be reckoned with. Naturally, as you point out, he could only have done so with the blessing of Ismail Khan.

You are also correct that Hekmatayr has always preached against the West, but that didn't stop the CIA from funding him, or him from accepting the aid. The CIA's anti-Soviet activities in Afghanistan gave no thought to a post-Soviet government. The sole criterion was whomever emerged as the most radically anti-Soviet. Hekmatayr fit the bill perfectly. Massoud, whom we should have backed, received only a pittance from the US.

[kAcknor]

fired 40-50 warning shots

These folks don't get the point real easy do that?

[kAcknor]

that = they

Arrrghh.

[Jacob Kell]

Actually, I believe that Hekmatyar was basically a opportunist who was often just as willing to fight the other Mujahideen factions as the Soviets and their local Afghan stooges. In fact, I believe that there were some KGB moles in his command staff who from time to time encouraged him to attack other Muj groups. I believe that we supported him because the ISI wanted us to. We took a hands off policy, and left much of it to the ISI. We supported Hekmatyar because the ISI wanted us to.