Posted on 05/19/2002 12:13:09 PM PDT by Iwentsouth
U.S. Special Forces soldier killed in firefight while on patrol in eastern Afghanistan.
May 19
— WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Enemy fire killed a U.S. special forces member on patrol in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, the Pentagon said.
"(He) was killed, after his unit came under enemy fire," Lt. Col. Michael Humm told Reuters.
"The firefight started when enemy forces engaged the patrol Sunday," he said.
The Pentagon said it was withholding the name of the dead man until his relatives had been notified.
Happy Hunting Boys!
Git'em!!!!
I believe we killed about a dozen al-Queada in that same area on Thursday when we unleased a couple of war planes.
His unit apparently came under heavy fire while hunting down Talibunny/al Qaeda. No word on whether there were enemy casualties.
Yep. 10 of them, I think it was. The IRNA (Iran) tried to make out that they were members of a wedding party, innocently celebrating by shooting at US choppers.
I wish the media would stop talking about the operation in Eastern Afghanistan...the media starts complaining about a news blackout...then our boys get wounded or killed. Makes me wonder of the d@nmed terrorbunnies aren't just FOLLOWING THE NEWS CREWS to OUR POSITIONS.
Coalition forces have swept through half a zone in eastern Afghanistan, but have yet to encounter any al-Qaida fighters.
Some 1,000 British-led troops launched the sweep through mountains near the city of Khost, saying they believed a "significant number" of fighters were there after an Australian patrol was attacked the day before.
The Australians came under heavy fire for five hours, until calling in strikes by American A130 gunships, which killed 10 people said to be Taliban and al-Qaida fighters.
Lt Col Ben Curry, a British military spokesman, said that coalition troops had searched half the area targeted by the sweep, named Operation Condor, but encountered no enemy fighters.
A small amount of ammunition was found, including two 120mm rockets and a few cases of 12.7mm ammunition, Lt Col Curry said at Bagram base north of Kabul.
An Afghan tribe whose fighters were killed in a strike disputed the coalition account of the fighting there. A delegation from the tribe discussed the bombing with US officers at Khost airport, where American special forces are based.
The Sabari said their fighters were skirmishing with the Balkhiel tribe in a dispute over a stand of trees near their villages 30 miles north of Khost when the bombs fell.
Sabari elders denied firing on the Australians or the US aircraft or having links to al Qaida or the deposed Taliban militia.
However, a US military spokesman, Major Bryan Hilferty, said he had "no reason to believe" the tribe's account.
"They were shooting heavy machine gun and mortars at us. That is a known al Qaida and Taliban area," he said.
Story filed: 18:40 Sunday 19th May 2002
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