Free Republic

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 2010 – International Security Assistance Force Joint Command officials have denied reports from a Chinese wire service that claim forces opened fire on civilians during a protest in the Garmsir district of Afghanistan’s Helmand province today. During the protest, officials said in a statement, an insurgent shot an Afghan official who was on a military base. International troops shot and killed the sniper. There were no other injuries or shots fired, the statement said. Protestors had gathered over an allegation of the desecration of the Quran in a Jan. 10 operation against the Taliban. ISAF Joint Command...

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq — December was the first month since the Iraq war began in which there were no American combat deaths, a milestone hailed by military officials Friday as they inaugurated a new name for the U.S. force at the start of the year that will see the war wind down in earnest. Henceforth, the Multinational Force-Iraq will officially be called the United States Force-Iraq, in belated recognition of the fact that for some time there have been no other nations serving alongside U.S. troops in the nearly 7-year-old conflict. British, Australian and Romanian soldiers pulled out in July,...

KABUL, Dec. 18, 2009 – The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force is sending a team to work with Afghan officials in assessing reports of civilian casualties as a result of an operation in the Shah Wali Kot district of Afghanistan’s Kandahar province yesterday. Initial operational reports indicate that men were planting a bomb next to the road. After firing on the men from a helicopter, ISAF forces discovered civilians in a car adjacent to the site, officials said. In a written statement, ISAF officials said the command goes to great lengths to avoid, and deeply regrets, any harm to civilians....

KABUL, Oct. 26, 2009 – Separate helicopter incidents today claimed the lives of 11 U.S. servicemembers and three U.S. civilians in Afghanistan, military officials reported. Officials of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said four U.S. servicemembers died when two ISAF helicopters apparently collided over southern Afghanistan, and seven U.S. servicemembers and three U.S. civilians were killed when their helicopter went down “due to unconfirmed reasons” in western Afghanistan. In addition to the four servicemembers killed in the apparent collision incident, two more were injured, officials said, adding that hostile fire is not believed to be a factor. In the...

WASHINGTON, June 22, 2009 – Two U.S. servicemembers were killed and at least six other personnel were wounded yesterday during an early morning indirect-fire attack on Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, officials said. The injured were taken to a U.S. medical facility for treatment. “On behalf of the Combined Joint Task Force 82 team, we offer our condolences and sympathy to the families of our two brave servicemembers,” said Army Maj. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, commander of the task force. “Their sacrifice in the name of security and a better way of life for the Afghan people will not be forgotten.” The...

WASHINGTON, May 7, 2009 – The United States, coalition and Afghan government regret even one innocent civilian death, and they will continue to do all they can to avoid civilian casualties, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said in Kabul today. Gates spoke at a news conference after a day of visiting U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan. A joint investigative team is looking into reports of civilian casualties during a May 4 operation against Taliban insurgents in western Afghanistan and has visited the site in Farah province. The team is investigating differing accounts of the events leading up to the...