AP: B-52 Bombers Aid Besieged Special Forces

AP via Yahoo ^ | Dec 1, 2002 | Todd Pitman

[mikegi]

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - U.S. B-52 bombers pounded suspected enemy positions Sunday in western Afghanistan after an American special forces patrol came under fire, a U.S. army spokesman said. No U.S. casualties were reported.

A convoy of special forces was patrolling near Shindand air base at midday when unknown gunmen fired on them, said Col. Roger King, a spokesman at Bagram Air Base, the headquarters for U.S. military operations in Afghanistan.

The Americans called for air support as they escaped under fire, King said. The B-52s dropped seven bombs.

In Kabul, the long jet trails of at least one B-52 bomber and one fighter jet were visible high over the city.

The news came as rival factions in western Afghanistan traded heavy artillery- and machine-gun fire in fighting that one warlord said had left at least 11 of his soldiers dead and seven injured.

It was not immediately clear if the U.S. patrol was involved in the fighting, had been caught in a cross fire, or was the target of a separate attack.

Ammanullah Khan accused his longtime adversary, Herat Gov. Ismail Khan, of ordering a massive attack late Saturday night with tanks, artillery and rocket launchers on his positions in Zer-e-Koh district, about 15 miles south of Shindand air base in Herat province.

Ammanullah Khan said American planes bombed front line positions at Zer-e-Koh — not Shindand — trying to stop the fighting.

"Heavy fighting is continuing today," Ammanullah Khan said Sunday by satellite telephone. "We're trying to push Ismail Khan's forces back."

He said he had hundreds of fighters defending front-line positions, 11 of whom had been killed and seven wounded in the battle so far. Neither side had made any territorial advances, he said.

Ammanullah Khan said several rockets had exploded in Zer-e-Koh, home to about 100,000 civilians.

Neither Ismail Khan nor his deputies were available to comment.

Ethnic Tajik forces loyal to Ismail Khan have clashed repeatedly with those of Ammanullah Khan, a Pashtun commander. Fighting between the two sides was last reported in Zer-e-Koh on Nov. 1.

Ammanullah Khan said he had called the capital, Kabul, to inform President Hamid Karzai's government about the fighting and to request the central government intervene and disarm both sides.

Karzai, however, has little authority outside Kabul. The rest of the country is in the hands of regional warlords with private armies.

Ismail Khan, a former governor, retook control of Herat after U.S.-led forces ousted the hardline Taliban regime last year. But local Pashtuns have complained his forces have looted the area and oppressed them.

Also Sunday, unidentified attackers fired four rockets at an American-controlled airport in the eastern city of Khost, a local government official said. No casualties were reported.

A four-wheel-drive vehicle also blew up at the airport's gate, but it was unclear whom it belonged to or how it exploded, the official said on condition of anonymity.

Afghan forces tightened security in Khost and were stopping cars and searching them. American attack helicopters were circling above the city, the official said.

U.S. forces based in eastern Afghanistan are hunting al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives near the Pakistan border. Unknown attackers sometimes fire rockets and other weapons at the troops or their bases, but they rarely hit their target.

[mikegi]

Message to Afghanistan tribals: don't mess with our troops. We really need for the Afghan Army to take control of the country so we can get the H*ll out!

[eno_]

Won't happen. Best case is we make it safe enough for the Turks to do the job.

[expatpat]

Typical deceptive liberal headline. The use of the word "beseiged" is clearly deceptive since the troops were fired at by a sniper(s), not surrounded.

[redbaiter]

I gather the B-52 was already in the neighborhood for some other purpose, and was re-directed to deal with this sniper. So I wonder about two things:

-what was the B-52 doing in the area. I mean what was he there to destroy, and did that happen.
-Isn't it a little excessive to call in a B-52 to deal with a sniper?

I also wonder what sort of bombs those were. It says the aircraft 'dropped' seven 'bombs'.

[per loin]

We are not there to control or build the country; we are there to kill specific people. When we are finished with that killing, we should move on, and leave the Afghans to sort out their own rubble.

[PatrioticAmerican]

A'stan is not a state of this union. It should defend itself. If it gets out of control, again, we'll simply bomb it once more. Simple: You screw with the US, you die.

[Darlin']

BUFFs still getting the job done. :)

[cajungirl]

I disagree,,if we leave early, this place will be just like it was and the criticism of us will escalate. We did that once and it didn't work. This is going to take a long time. And it is worth it in my opinion.

[per loin]

Are we so weak willed that we are afraid of criticism? As for Afghan, it will revert to what it has been, whether we waste billions of American taxpayers' money there or not. If al Queda or other groups reform there, they can be targeted and hit. Until the Afghans, themselves, build a culture that can endure and thrive in modern civilization, they will be not but warlords at battle in the rubble. So it goes.

[cajungirl]

I said we would be criticized. But I also said I agreed with the idea we should stay there for a long while. They cannot build a stable government iin a couple months. And doing that is worthwhile in my opinion. The criticism is secondary but domestic criticism is a powerful factor here. And if we cut and run, it would be deserved in my opinion.

[ninonitti]

-what was the B-52 doing in the area. I mean what was he there to destroy, and did that happen. -Isn't it a little excessive to call in a B-52 to deal with a sniper?

My bet is that there're any number of buffs on station during any operation involving our forces-just in case

Contrast this with Clintoons withholding armor in Somalia.

I would rather see our men covered by everything we have....better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

[Lurker]

They're using B-52s because our soldiers don't have enough organic heavy weapons in theatre.

That's a serious mistake and it will get our people killed if the problem isn't corrected soon.

L

[rockfish59]

7 bombs?

What do they call that, 'door mat' bombing?

[Gunrunner2]

Just guessing (informed guess).

--The B-52 was in the area to drop on pre-selected targets, and the B-52 was re-directed to respond to a call for CAS.

--As far as a lone sniper being the target, who knows what actually was happening. I mean, with the quality of "news" reporting these days, perhaps it was one kid chunking rocks or a battallion of troops shooting guns. . .the "media" can't tell the difference. Maybe the "sniper" was in a ridgeline and popping away at our guys and they couldn't get a bead on the guy, so, what the heck, drop a couple of tons of bombs on the ridgeline.

Basically, I don't question the decision of the guys on the ground when it comes to calling in air. And if you are calling in air, boy-howdy, you certainly don't care if the bomb-dropper is a B-52, F-16, A-10, or even a carrier pigeon. As long as the target gets hit, that's all that matters.

--No, it is not excessive to call in a B-52. The type of aircraft is irrelevant because as long as the munition used does the purposed, who cares what type of aircraft dropped it.

--I suspect the bombs dropped were JDAM and not your typical unguided Mk-82.

--Not all B-52 attacks are Arch-Light carpet-bombing. Therefore, dropping seven bombs is no big deal for the B-52.

Cheers.

[mamelukesabre]

The problem is....we will soon need that air power moved into iraq.

[mamelukesabre]

Can you please define: "organic heavy weapons" for me?

thanks

[SevenDaysInMay]

Word of American anti-sniper missions comprised of B-52 Arc "Lite" units will make it through the dung heaps of widowed Islamic death cult society. Blackhawk Down must remain a failure of XXX42, Allah JDAMit.

[Live free or die]

Can you please define: "organic heavy weapons" for me?

[AdamSelene235]

-Isn't it a little excessive to call in a B-52 to deal with a sniper?

If was my butt on the line, I'd want tactical nukes whenever possible.

Wouldn't you?

[per loin]

Cut and run? It is not cut and run to leave when the job is done. Al Queda and the Taliban have been cast from power in Afghan. Our job there is done.

It is not our task to attempt to build a "stable government" in every Islamic rathole that we send our exterminators to. If you wish to send the Afghans a portion of your yearly earnings for the rest of your life, you are free to do so, but no taxpayer monies should be wasted there.