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US planes bomb 'Taleban' compound
BBC News ^ | 07/02/05

Posted on 07/02/2005 5:36:08 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster

US planes bomb 'Taleban' compound
 
US air attack in Afghanistan
The US says that precision guided weapons were used
American fighter planes have bombed a suspected Taleban hideout in the same area of eastern Afghanistan where US servicemen are missing, officials say.

A senior Afghan official told the BBC 25 people had been killed in two air raids on a house in Chechal village.

US military spokesman Lt Col Jerry O'Hara told the AP news agency: "We conducted an air strike on a target we deemed we had to hit immediately."

He said the target was an "enemy compound" in Kunar province.

Lt Col O'Hara said the attack was carried out with precision-guided weapons on a target that was "intelligence driven".

He gave no further details.

Wave of violence

A high-ranking Afghan security official in the province, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the BBC that there had been two separate bombing runs on Chechal village.

Villagers who went to help those killed and injured in the first raid were hit by the second strike, he said.

The official said that security forces had been sent to the area to find out who had been in the houses that were hit.

The bombing raids took place amid rising concern over the whereabouts of a team of US special forces on a reconnaissance mission who have been missing in the area since Tuesday.

US soldier in Khost, Afghanistan
The US military says security is improving despite recent setbacks

A helicopter which was sent to pick them up was shot down on Tuesday, killing 16 servicemen on board.

US forces hunting the missing ground team say they are using all available means, including unmanned surveillance aircraft and numerous ground troops.

But their efforts have been severely hampered by bad weather.

Torrential downpours hit much of the region late on Friday, making the hard mountain terrain in Kunar province even tougher going for search teams on the ground.

Elsewhere, 18 Taleban fighters were killed in recent fighting in central Uruzgan province, said governor Jan Mohammad Khan.

The killings were the latest in a wave of violence in Afghanistan ahead of September parliamentary elections.

More than 450 people, most of them suspected militants, are estimated to have lost their lives in bloodshed in the south and east in the last three months.

Last Updated: Saturday, 2 July, 2005, 09:26 GMT 10:26 UK


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: afghanistan; attack; bombing; gwot; kidnapping; mia; missing; oef; taliban
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1 posted on 07/02/2005 5:36:10 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Must be quite a house to have 25 people in it. Let me guess - another wedding party?


2 posted on 07/02/2005 5:38:28 AM PDT by GSlob
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To: TigerLikesRooster

WOW...Next please, no waiting!


3 posted on 07/02/2005 5:38:30 AM PDT by ncountylee (Dead terrorists smell like victory)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Methinks we might be closing in on a big prize.


4 posted on 07/02/2005 5:39:06 AM PDT by TADSLOS (Right Wing Infidel since 1954)
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To: GSlob
Must be quite a house to have 25 people in it. Let me guess - another wedding party?

Or baby food formulating social?

5 posted on 07/02/2005 5:41:03 AM PDT by ncountylee (Dead terrorists smell like victory)
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To: GSlob
A meeting of the local chapter of Amnesty International;-)
6 posted on 07/02/2005 5:42:07 AM PDT by verity (Big Dick Durbin is still a POS)
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To: TigerLikesRooster
Why don't they just quote the Lt. Col directly and completely? instead of parsing out the one phrase to put in snide quotes:

Lt Col O'Hara said the attack was carried out with precision-guided weapons on a target that was "intelligence driven".

BBC! Sheesh.

7 posted on 07/02/2005 5:47:34 AM PDT by Ludicrous
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Isn't NATO taking over Afghanistan security?


8 posted on 07/02/2005 5:48:23 AM PDT by bnelson44
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To: Ludicrous

And nice set of scare quotes around "Taleban." As in, they're trying to imply that maybe it wasn't a Taliban compound.

}:-)4


9 posted on 07/02/2005 5:49:22 AM PDT by Moose4 (Richmond, Virginia--commemorating 140 years of Yankee occupation.)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Koodos to the US. troops . Happy birthday USA !!!


10 posted on 07/02/2005 6:24:05 AM PDT by lionheart 247365 (( I.S.L.A.M. ; ) Islam's Spiritual Leaders Advocate Murder .. .. .. ))
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To: TigerLikesRooster
US military spokesman Lt Col Jerry O'Hara told the AP news agency: "We conducted an air strike on a target we deemed we had to hit immediately.

Related to our missing guys?

11 posted on 07/02/2005 7:04:30 AM PDT by aculeus (Ceci n'est pas une tag line.)
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To: aculeus
Re #11

Yep.

12 posted on 07/02/2005 7:07:22 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
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To: TigerLikesRooster
It seems to me if a Spec Ops team was in danger of being overrun, more assets would have been brought to bear than two CH-47's carrying 32 additional Spec Ops guys.
13 posted on 07/02/2005 7:18:10 AM PDT by fso301
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To: TigerLikesRooster

I'm rather ignorant on the military stuff...but how do we know our people weren't in the bombed house? or in an area nearby in danger of friendly fire? Or is that just the risk they take?

Afterall, we've had some people missing for a few days...


14 posted on 07/02/2005 7:21:48 AM PDT by madison10
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To: fso301
Re #13

I suspect there were warplanes flying around the area, ready to strike at any moment.

15 posted on 07/02/2005 7:23:48 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
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To: madison10

Let's hope that any of our captured troops, (if in fact any are captured) weren't in that house


16 posted on 07/02/2005 7:25:27 AM PDT by DAC21
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To: DAC21
Let's hope that any of our captured troops, (if in fact any are captured) weren't in that house

Actually, with this medeival enemy, if a rescue mission isn't possible, the merciful thing to do is destroy it.

17 posted on 07/02/2005 7:29:09 AM PDT by fso301
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To: TigerLikesRooster
"Villagers who went to help those killed and injured in the first raid were hit by the second strike, ..."

Hmm, doesn't this sound familiar to those who have been car-bombed elsewhere? "Bout time we used their tactics back on 'em.

18 posted on 07/02/2005 7:38:11 AM PDT by stboz
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To: madison10

Why do you assume that the fact that they are missing is a bad thing? Maybe they are supposed to be "missing".


19 posted on 07/02/2005 7:56:32 AM PDT by Queen of Excelsior
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To: Queen of Excelsior
Probably isn't a bad thing,but "missing" has a direful connotation. Then again Military "missing" is different from "little girl lost in the mountains with lions" missing.

They didn't say MIA,but I thought they meant--captured.

20 posted on 07/02/2005 8:12:14 AM PDT by madison10
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