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To: backhoe; piasa; Godzilla; All

UPDATE...

Note: The following text is a quote:
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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Apr2006/20060412_4793.html


Officials Revise Toll in Terrorist Attack on Afghan School

American Forces Press Service

FORWARD OPERATING BASE ASADABAD, Afghanistan, April 12, 2006 – Combined Forces Command Afghanistan officials now say seven children died and 34 more were injured - some critically -- when rockets fired by al Qaeda and Taliban extremists operating in the area slammed into the Salabagh Primary School yesterday.

Coalition medical staff members race to evacuate five Afghan children to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, for emergency treatment after a rocket hit their school April 11. At least one rocket exploded in the courtyard of the Salabagh Primary School in Asadabad, killing seven children and wounding 34 others. Photo by Pfc. Anna Perry, USA (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.
An initial report shortly after the attack had six children killed and 14 wounded.

"This despicable act is further proof of the enemy's wanton disregard for innocent civilians," said Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, commander of Combined Joint Task Force 76.

The children were attending class in an outdoor courtyard when at least one rocket exploded among them, officials said. A second rocket exploded nearby, narrowly missing the courtyard.

The Salabagh School enrolls elementary and middle school aged boys and girls. Three boys and four girls died during or shortly after the blast, officials said.

Immediately, coalition forces and Afghan community members forged together to move the injured children to the medical clinic at the nearby Asadabad Provincial Reconstruction Team camp. Dozens of coalition and Afghan medical personnel treated the injured both at the school and in the clinic.

Gov. Assadullah Wafa of Afghanistan's Kunar province, and Army Lt. Col. Pete Munster, commander of the Asadabad PRT, addressed the people of the province over Radio Kunar within hours of the attack. "We continue to assist Afghan national security forces in removing the enemy from this beautiful country and to assist in providing stability and security," Munster told the public.

Taliban extremists have been implicated or have claimed responsibility for damaging more than 40 schools, assassinating teachers and intimidating school-aged children in the past year.

"These extremists are killing innocent children, and with them, the future of Afghanistan," Freakley said. "However, this atrocity will only strengthen the resolve of coalition forces and the Afghan people to continue its pursuit of the terrorists and build a stronger, more independent Afghanistan."

Al Qaeda and Taliban extremists oppose the education of girls and unrestricted education of boys. This is the most violent attack on a school since coalition forces removed the Taliban regime from power in November 2001.

"I told the people of Kunar we're going to seek, find and destroy the enemy," Munster said after his address. "And we're going to help repair the damage done to this school and this city."

"I think this shows the callousness and the complete disregard for the people of Afghanistan by the enemy," added Marine Corps Lt. Col. Chip Bierman, commander of Task Force Lava. "The thoughts and prayers of the Marines and sailors of this unit are with the children and their families."

Five of the more seriously injured children were flown to Bagram Air Base for surgery and acute medical care at the U.S. hospital there.

"On behalf of the entire coalition team, my deepest condolences to the seven families who lost the lives of their children today, and I wish for a full and speedy recovery of those injured in this atrocity," said Freakley.

(Based on a Combined Forces Command Afghanistan news release.)


3,896 posted on 04/12/2006 11:35:45 AM PDT by Cindy
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To: All

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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Apr2006/20060411_4788.html


U.S., Iraqi Troops Find Weapons Caches; Insurgents Detained

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2006 – U.S. and Iraqi forces discovered multiple weapons caches and detained five suspected insurgents over the past week, U.S. military officials in Baghdad announced today.
Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers unearthed a significant weapons cache over a three-day period on an island on the Euphrates River.

Beginning April 5, soldiers from 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, discovered a weapons that contained 82 mm rounds, 120 mm rounds, rocket-propelled grenade rounds and launcher, hand grenades, 55-gallon drums of TNT, 55-gallon sacks of nitrate, bundles of detonation chord, AK-47 rounds, 1,500 meters of command wire, a mortar sight, a receiver, a 107 mm rocket, 18 mm anti-aircraft rounds, 125 mm aerial bombs, anti-tank grenades, 60 mm mortars, 82 mm mortars, sticks of dynamite, mortar primers, hand grenades, cylindrical containers and boosters.

In a separate incident, soldiers from the Iraqi Emergency Services Unit combined efforts with Bastogne soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division to detain five suspected insurgents April 9 during a sequential cordon-and-search operation of four homes in Kirkuk.

Numerous weapons and cell phones, along with dozens of false identification cards, were uncovered. All five suspects were taken to a U.S. military compound for questioning.

In another combined effort, Iraqi soldiers from the 5th Strategic Infrastructure Brigade notified Bastogne soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, of a suspected weapons cache. After receiving the information, the Bastogne soldiers escorted an explosive ordnance disposal unit to the site to investigate and destroy the cache.

This cache included rocket-propelled grenades, 122 mm rounds, 73 mm projectiles, 60 mm mortars, 40 mm projectiles, 100 mm mortars, a 105 mm mortar, 82 mm rounds, smoke grenades, small-arms rounds and fuses.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq news releases.)


3,897 posted on 04/12/2006 11:37:39 AM PDT by Cindy
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