Two U.S. special forces soldiers killed

CNN ^ | Mar 29, 03

[SLB]

-- Two U.S. special forces soldiers killed and one wounded in ambush in Afghanistan, Pentagon sources say. Watch CNN or log on to http://CNN.com /AOL Keyword: CNN for the latest news.

[mikegi]

AQ has been very quiet during the war in Iraq. I don't think that it's voluntary, I think they're dead.

[Archangelsk]

I have nine very close friends operating in Afghanistan (all SF). I cannot convey how sick and worried I am.

[homeschool mama]

Bless your heart.

Prayers heavenward for those serving in harms way...and for Archangelsk's dear friends in Afghanistan. <><

[BlessedBeGod]

Praying for you, your friends, and those who were killed.

[SLB]

With the media focused on Iraq this is a "good" time for AQ to move. I pray for the safety of those in this war no matter where they are.

[EarlyBird]

Watch CNN or log on to http://CNN.com /AOL Keyword: CNN for the latest news.

No thanks.

[FreedomPoster]

Are they Special Forces (i.e. Army Green Beret) or are they special forces (GB, Delta, SEAL, etc)?

I sure can't tell from the capitalization in the CNN article. Poor reporting.

[trussell]

You and your friends have my prayers.

Lord, please protect Archangelsk's friends and bring them home safely. Watch over all our service men and women, surround them with a hedge of thorns as protection from those who would harm them. Fill their surroundings with angels, and let them feel your presence and your protection. In Jesus' name. AMEN

[green team 1999]

2 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Afghan Ambush
57 minutes ago

By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press Writer

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - Two U.S. soldiers were killed and another was wounded Saturday in an ambush in southern Afghanistan (news - web sites), the U.S. military said.


AP Photo



The soldiers were on a reconnaissance patrol in Helmand province when they were attacked, said a statement from the headquarters of the U.S. forces in Afghanistan.


Three Afghan soldiers were wounded, said an intelligence chief in southern Afghanistan.


The soldiers were inspecting a school and hospital being built with American funding, said Dad Mohammed Khan, the intelligence chief of Helmand.


A special forces soldier and an airman were killed and another special forces soldier was wounded when their four-vehicle convoy was ambushed while on reconnaissance patrol near Geresk, the U.S. military said in a statement from a U.S. military base north of the capital, Kabul. It did not identify the victims.


Four people on two motorcycles ambushed the U.S. vehicles and escaped, Khan said, identifying the assailants as fighters of the former Taliban regime ousted by a U.S.-led coalition in late 2001.


Army spokesman Col. Roger King said the U.S. servicemen were among fewer than 20 people in the convoy.


"They drove into a kill zone," King told The Associated Press.


The convoy sped out of the area as a gunfight ensued, King said.


Two days earlier, unidentified gunmen shot to death a water engineer working for the International Committee of the Red Cross. Ricardo Munguia, 39, was killed when his car was intercepted on a dirt road while he was returning from Tarin Kot, in neighboring Uruzgan province, to the southern city of Kandahar.


Geresk is about 70 miles west of Kandahar.


Munguia was a citizen of both Switzerland and El Salvador (news - web sites). He was the first foreign aid worker killed since the Taliban was expelled.


The deaths bring to 18 the number of combat casualties suffered by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.


The last death occurred Dec. 21, when Army Sgt. Steven Checo, 22, of New York, was killed in a gunfight during a nighttime operation in the eastern province of Paktika, near the Pakistani border.


Meanwhile, U.S. special forces and hundreds of Afghan soldiers fought about 100 Taliban fighters in southern Uruzgan province, officials said.


Uruzgan province Gov. Haji Jan Mohammed told The Associated Press that 15 Taliban were killed and eight captured in the fighting in Sangisakh Shaila, 50 miles north of Kandahar. Six of Mohammed's men were wounded, he said.


Mohammed sent at least 400 soldiers to the fight and U.S. special forces were involved, he said.





Another 600 soldiers from neighboring Kandahar province were sent to the battle area, said provincial police official Shafiullah, who, like many Afghans, uses one name.

"The Taliban are using heavy weapons and we are trying to either kill or arrest them," Mohammed said.

The Norwegian military said two Norwegian F-16 fighter jets dropped four laser-guided bombs on targets northeast of Kandahar.

The fighters were on a routine patrol mission over Afghanistan when they were called to support coalition ground troops under fire, said a statement released in Oslo.

It was the third time Norwegian jets have engaged in combat in Afghanistan.

Earlier Saturday unidentified assailants opened fire on a small group of U.S. special forces soldiers Saturday near Khakrez, 27 miles northwest of Kandahar.

"The U.S. special forces were engaged; they attempted to break contact and called in air support," the U.S. military said in a statement from Bagram Air Base.

"The air support consisted of two Apache helicopters which were engaged by enemy ground fire. They returned fire."

The statement also said coalition F-16s rushed to Khakrez and dropped four bombs. No coalition casualties were reported.

Many Taliban are believed to be hiding in southern Afghanistan since they were ousted by a U.S.-led bombardment after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

[ExSoldier]

My buddies in the SF are all now at the 05 and 06 levels. I'm not so worried about them. But you shouldn't be worried either...this is what SpecOps guys LIVE for! To prove it, rush out NOW to the nearest big book store like Barnes and Nobel or heck go to Amazon.com and order the following book:

"The Hunt for Bin Laden: Task Force DAGGER" by Robin Moore. This is the man who went to Vietnam as a civilian...the only civilian to ever get through both Airborne School and the SF Q Course. His book of the same name was made into the movie starring John Wayne: "The Green Berets." This book is highly recommended by Soldier of Fortune Magazine. I didn't know the whole picture of the role of SF after 9-11. Now I see the whole enchilada. I heard little snippets but felt they were...ahem...a little exaggerated in the telling. NOT SO! 100 SF troopers led and trained a force of Northern Alliance tribesmen in the days following 9-11 and took on and wiped out a force of 30,000 Islamist terrorists on the ground in Afghanistan. They taught these Islamic "warriors" a bloody lesson all of America's enemies eventually must learn....their perceptions of the soft underbelly of America waiting to be ripped open is so much myth. Instead the reality goes: "Mess with the BEST...DIE like the rest!"

[patriciaruth]

media focused on Iraq this is a "good" time for AQ to move.

Yet in the first days of the Iraq War, the 82nd was in Southern Afghanistan checking out the same thought.

Hopefully a bunch of them are in Iraq and seeing daisy cutters falling from the sky.