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Fierce
Afghan Resistance Kills 10 U.S. Troops, Downs Chopper
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| Afghan resistance
targeting U.S. choppers |
ZURMAT,
Afghanistan, March 4 (News Agencies) – At least ten U.S. troops were confirmed
killed and 38 others injured Monday in the massive assault in the Arma mountains
of Paktia province bordering Pakistan.
A
U.S. helicopter was shot down and a second hit in eastern Afghanistan, killing
nine U.S. troops, as warplanes Monday bombarded the mountains to smash suspected
Al-Qaeda and Taliban hideouts, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
One
Special Forces MH-47 helicopter was shot down, killing "a small
number" of U.S. troops and injuring others, Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria
Clarke said.
"We
can confirm that sometime early evening our time last night an MH-47 was fired
upon and went down. We have some small numbers of U.S. troops killed,"
Clarke said Monday in Washington.
U.S.
Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, speaking at a news briefing late Monday,
said, “Nine U.S. troops were killed and some others were injured, as well as
some Afghan soldiers killed”.
A
second MH-47 helicopter was hit but managed to take off and flee, leaving behind
a U.S. soldier who was later found dead, the official said.
Meanwhile,
a reporter for the Toronto Star newspaper badly injured her leg Monday when the
car in which she and other journalists were traveling came under attack in
eastern Afghanistan.
Kathleen
Kenna, the paper's South Asia correspondent, was hit in her right thigh by a
grenade or bullet while traveling between Zurmat and the provincial capital of
Gardez covering the offensive.
U.S.
bombers continued to pound a two-kilometer (one-mile) stretch of the Arma
mountains, dislodging snow from their caps, as a surveillance drone flew
overhead.
"Yesterday
and today have been the heaviest bombing so far," said Jamil, deputy local
commander in Zurmat, a village three kilometers (about two miles) from the
fighting.
U.S.
warplanes have mounted a full assault on the frigid mountains since early
Saturday to oust hundreds of al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters, possibly including
top leaders, holed up inside a network of caves.
Under
U.S. advisers' guidance, some 1,000 Afghan troops have been trying to mount a
ground offensive. But soldiers said progress has been halted by Al-Qaeda
resistance. More than 1,000 troops are taking part in the operation.
"Al-Qaeda
men are not in a position to launch a counterattack, but as soon as the
Afghan-Americans come close they are opening fire from the caves. As the
security belt gets tighter, so the resistance gets stronger," said Paktia
province's governor Taj Mohammad Wardak.
"The
fighting is non-stop between the Afghan-Americans and Al-Qaeda," he told
AFP in Gardez, 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of Zurmat.
"I
can tell you that if there are any casualties on the Afghan-American side, it
will be 10 times as bad on Al-Qaeda side," he said.
A
spokesman for the U.S. Central Command said Sunday that hundreds of Al-Qaeda and
Taliban holdouts were believed to be hiding in the mountains. Local officials,
however, have put the figure at around 2,300.
The
governor said bombing and fighting was centered around Shahi Kot, on the corner
of Paktia and Paktika provinces. He expected the operation would last a few more
days.
"Shahi
Kot is more important than we were thinking and maybe some top Al-Qaeda leaders
are there," Wardak said.
"I
have heard that Osama bin Laden is there, but I'm not sure. It's not confirmed.
We will know everything in a matter of two or three days."
Wardak
said the Afghan troops, whom he described as "semi-irregular interim
government forces," were under direct U.S. command.
The
U.S. Central Command said Sunday that Australia, Canada, Denmark, France,
Germany and Norway were among the coalition countries participating in the
operation.
France
confirmed Monday that Mirage 2000-D warplanes were flying near Gardez and could
be used in bombings depending on what is needed.
Meanwhile,
Afghan forces were reported to have set up posts on all roads leading from the
area of fighting.
"The
purpose of these new posts is to ensure that al-Qaeda and Taliban members do not
escape to Pakistan," a local commander told the Pakistan-based Afghan
Islamic Press.
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