A NATO helicopter has crashed in eastern Afghanistan during a battle with the Taliban, killing 30 US and seven Afghan soldiers and one civilian interpreter. More than 20 US navy SEALs from the broader unit that killed Osama bin Laden were among those killed in the crash.
So it is more than possible, despite official denials, that the Taliban have killed the killers of Osama Bin Laden.
The troops from SEAL Team Six were flown by a crew of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, according to one current and one former US official. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because families are still being notified. ( ElJazeera)
One source said the team was thought to include 22 SEALs, three air force air controllers, seven Afghan army troops, a dog and his handler, and a civilian interpreter, plus the helicopter crew.
The Taliban quickly claimed to have shot down the helicopter during a firefight. They also said eight of their fighters were killed in the fighting.
“They wanted to attack our mujahideen who were in a house, but our mujahideen resisted and destroyed a helicopter with a RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) rocket,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said by telephone from an undisclosed location.
The helicopter was taking off from the roof of the house after the raid when hit by the RPG rocket.
In total US Special Forces are said to be larger than the whole Canadian army, and operate with total impunity. On average they carry out 70 terror raids every day. Mostly in Afganistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, but in many other countries as well.....
The US usually does not comment on covert actions – especially those that go wrong. But the 2008 incident was caught on mobile phone video, so the Americans confirmed it and apologised publicly……..
In October last year sailors from the unit were dispatched to rescue the British aid worker Linda Norgrove, who had been kidnapped by militants in Afghanistan.
Norgrove died during the raid after one of the Seals threw a fragmentation grenade close to where she was sheltering.
Initial reports suggested she had been killed by an insurgent’s suicide bomb vest. But when the Seal commanding officer reviewed surveillance video recordings he saw an explosion after one of the Seals threw something in Norgrove’s direction. A number of the Seals were disciplined as a result…….
A measure of its commitment to secrecy came when the head of the navy Seals sent the Bin Laden team a congratulatory email reminding them to keep their mouths shut afterwards. “Be extremely careful about operational security,” added Rear Admiral Edward Winters. “The fight is not over.” (BBC report)
On the same day as the deaths of the Special Forces an Imam and his children were killed in a separate raid. In the Nad Ali district in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, up to eight civilians were killed in a NATO airstrike on Friday, governor Shadi Khan said. "A group of Taliban attacked a foot patrol of NATO forces," Khan said. "Subsequently, an air strike targeted the house of an imam of a mosque in the area. As a result the imam, his wife and seven of their children were killed." Daud Ahmadi, the Helmand provincial spokesman, said he was "aware that there have been some civilian casualties as a result of a NATO air strike in Nad Ali district" and that an official delegation had been dispatched to investigate.
The Free 