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U.S. Special Forces Member Killed in Afghanistan, British Commander Replaced
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| "The
battle [in Afghanistan] has [just] started,” said Mullah
Omar
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BAGRAM
AIR BASE, Afghanistan, May 20 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A
U.S. special forces soldier killed in eastern Afghanistan was shot
dead in an ambush by suspected Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces, as the
embattled commander of the British Royal Marines in Afghanistan,
Brigadier Roger Lane, is to be replaced.
A
U.S. military spokesman, Major Bryan Hilferty, refused Monday, May 20,
to identify the soldier, who is understood to be the first special
forces member to be killed in combat in Afghanistan since the massive
Operation Anaconda ended in March, Agence France-Presse (AFP)
reported.
"A
United States special forces patrol near Skhin came under fire from
enemy forces at approximately 5:00 pm local time yesterday,"
Hilferty said.
"We
returned fire, killing one enemy. Unfortunately one American was
killed and one of our Afghan allies was wounded."
The American soldier, who was part of a small patrol operating in a
mountainous area of eastern Paktia province, died some time after
being shot despite receiving treatment at the scene.
Paktia has been the scene of fierce clashes in recent weeks as rebel
warlord Padsha Khan tried to unseat the governor, Taj Mohamad Wardak.
Khan has so far defied ultimatums to surrender and interim Afghan
leader Hamid Kharzai threatened to call in U.S. assistance to bring
the warlord to heel.
But Hilferty said it appeared that the U.S. soldier was killed by
Al-Qaeda or Taliban forces rather than having become a victim of local
rivalries.
"Obviously we were patrolling in that area because we believed
there was an Al-Qaeda or Taliban presence. Until we identify the
people shooting at us I cannot tell for sure who they were."
However, he added: "I believe it probably was Taliban or Al-Qaeda
who ambushed us."
Hilferty said the death had brought home to U.S. servicemen the
potentially lethal nature of the campaign in Afghanistan.
"All the soldiers, and even civilians who are supporting us,
understand that this is a dangerous business. This is a war. We
realize that there are risks, we realize there are going to be
casualties, but even so one death does not deter us."
The spokesman said the firefight lasted several minutes after which
U.S. forces withdrew from the area.
"If people are firing at you, you fire back, you suppress their
fire so you can move away out of the fire."
For his part, British spokesman Major Geoff Moulton said British
troops taking part in a major operation in eastern Afghanistan had so
far had no contact with opposition forces.
"Operation Condor has entered its fifth day, 45 Commando
continues to sweep through and clear the area. There has been no
contact with the enemy as yet."
According
to BBC’s online news service, the Condor operation could still prove
either a success or an embarrassment.
Meanwhile,
British troops Commander, Brigadier Lanev Roger, will be succeeded by
Brigadier Jim Dutton, who is currently working as a liaison officer to
U.S. Central Command in Florida.
The
decision to replace him was taken even before the row about his role
in Afghanistan.
On
Sunday, May 19, Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon reacted to criticism of
Brigadier Lane's role, denying reports that he had lost the confidence
of his troops.
However,
Hoon's Conservative opposite number, Bernard Jenkin, accused the
government of "yet another presentational cock-up".
Jenkin
suggested that the government had got itself into trouble by
overplaying some events in Afghanistan.
"It's
a shame that the government's spin has got so far ahead of the
operation in some cases that it has undermined the whole credibility
of the operation and ultimately this has a damaging affect on the
morale of the troops on the ground," BBC quoted him as saying.
Commons
defense select committee chairman, Bruce George, however, praised the
commander's career and said he should not be put in a position where
he left his job under a cloud.
"If
that was the case, I would be appalled. It is deplorable if this man,
who has had a very successful military career, who is doing an
immensely difficult job in circumstances that are almost impossible to
believe and then he leaves his post under a cloud," he said.
"I
think that anybody who tries to stick the knife into him I think
deserves to be criticized themselves."
Brigadier
Lane has been in his position for just over a year.
A
British Ministry of Defense spokesman said the commander was leaving
before the end of his expected two-year tenure to give the Marines
"more choice" in future appointments.
He
will be allowed to stay on in his job until the current phase of
operations in Afghanistan is completed.
Brigadier
Dutton will then take over at the end of June.
Hoon
said he had "complete confidence" in the commander, despite
claims he faced mounting pressure to sack him.
The
minister dismissed as "nonsense" reports that the mission to
Afghanistan had become a mess under the brigadier's leadership.
"He
is doing a tremendous job in very difficult conditions and he deserves
- and gets - our complete support," Hoon said.
The
minister also denied claims that the involvement of British soldiers
in Afghanistan had been overstated.
The
rebuttal was made after Labor MP Doug Henderson said: "There
certainly is a suspicion that... there is a need to hype up the
success of the operation when probably not a lot has been
achieved."
Conservative
MP Nicholas Soames accused the government of presenting the operations
"as if they were about to embark on D-Day".
On
Thursday, May 16, supreme leader of Afghanistan's ousted Taliban
warned the United States that war in Afghanistan was far from over,
according to a daily Saudi newspaper.
"The
battle [in Afghanistan] has [just] started, its fire has been kindled
and it will engulf the White House, seat of injustice and
tyranny," Mullah Mohammad Omar was quoted as saying by the Saudi
pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat.
The
Taliban leader vowed that the United States would encounter "hell
and a resounding defeat" in Afghanistan, "as happened to the
Soviet Union and British colonialism before that."
He
said the Taliban had pulled back to the mountains "to start a
guerilla war" there and thus spare the lives of the Afghan
people, but "our jihad [holy struggle] will continue ... until
victory."
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