|
CIA Agent First U.S. Combat Casualty in Afghanistan Military Campaign
WASHINGTON, Nov 28 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) confirmed Wednesday that one of its officers was killed earlier this week in the prison riot at Mazae-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan, believed to be the first combat-related American death in the U.S.-led military campaign.
A CIA statement identified the deceased as Johnny Michael "Mike'' Spann, 32, of Winfield, Alabama. His body was recovered Wednesday, several hours after Northern Alliance trooops, backed by U.S. airstrikes and special forces, put down a prison rebellion by Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners.
CIA Director George J. Tenet addressed agency employees Wednesday morning. He called Spann "an American hero, a man who showed passion for his country and his agency through his selfless courage."
Tenet added and said his fellow officers should "continue the mission that Mike Spann held'' sacred.
"And so we will continue our battle against evil with renewed strength and spirit,'' Tenet told colleagues, according to a CIA statement.
The flag outside CIA headquarters at McLean, Va., flew at half-staff in honor of Spann.
The confirmation of Spann's death ends intense speculation about American military casualties resulting from the prison riot.
Eyewitnesses in Mazar-e-Sharif had told reporters earlier that an American had been killed during the unrest, but U.S. military sources previously claimed that all of its forces were accounted for.
CIA operatives and members of the U.S. Army special forces have been in Afghanistan for the past several weeks, assisting the Northern Alliance in its campaign to drive the country's Taliban militia from power.
U.S. Preseident George W. Bush administration officials have declined to disclose the nature of U.S. covert operations in Afghanistan. CIA officers are believed to have been providing weapons, money and intelligence to groups opposing the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as interrogating prisoners captured during the fighting.
The CIA provided no details on the circumstances of Spann's death. Spann, who worked in the agency's Directorate of Operations, joined the CIA in June 1999 and had served in the Marine Corps. He left behind a widow and three children.
Four other Americans, all military personnel, have been killed in connection with the fighting in Afghanistan, but not in combat situations. All died in accidents outside the country. Two were killed in a helicopter crash in Pakistan.
Eight journalists have also died.
The riot at the prison began Sunday when hundreds of foreigners, including Pakistanis, Chechens, Arabs and other non-Afghans, who had fought with the Taliban were brought to the fortress after the weekend surrender of Kunduz.
Once inside, the men broke loose, stormed the armory and rose up against their Alliance captors.
Spann was in the fortress where Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners were being held, screened and questioned for information, the CIA said.
Hundreds of armed inmates held out for days, despite U.S. bombing and assault by thousands of Northern Alliance fighters. U.S. special forces and other troops, believed to be British, took part in the battle and coordinated airstrikes.
Five U.S. soldiers were seriously wounded Monday when a U.S. bomb went astray, exploding near the Americans. They were evacuated to a U.S. military hospital in Germany.
The alliance recaptured most of the prison by Tuesday, but a last few fighters were still holding out in some parts of the prison. Hundreds of prisoners and dozens of Northern Alliance fighters were believed to have been killed in the riot.
Previous to the Mazar-e-Sharif death, two CIA officers died in the line of duty in 1998, the most recent deaths of agency employees. No information has been released about their identities or the circumstances of their deaths.
Since the Agency's creation, 78 CIA officers and employees have died or been killed in the line of duty, CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield said. Each has a star on the wall in the lobby of the agency's main building.
Slightly more than half of the stars have a name tied to them. The identities of the rest are kept secret.
The most recent acknowledged death was that of analyst John Celli, who died in a car accident while working in the Middle East in November 1996.
Some of the better known include Robert Ames, who died in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, and William F. Buckley, who was tortured and killed by Hezbollah in 1985 in Lebanon.
|
