If they do not leave on foot , they will have to leave on shoulders !
Choice is theirs !
M J Iqbal
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A helicopter crash in Afghanistan's eastern Wardak province killed 31 U.S. special operation troops and seven Afghan soldiers, the country's president said Saturday. It was the highest number of American casualties recorded in a single incident in the decade-long war.
President Hamid Karzai sent his condolences to President Barack Obama, according to a statement issued by his office.
"A NATO helicopter crashed last night in Wardak province," Karzai said in the statement, adding that 31 American special operations troops were killed. "President Karzai expressed his deep condolences because of this incident and expressed his sympathy to Barack Obama."
The Taliban claimed to have brought the helicopter down with a rocket attack, but they have been known to make exaggerated claims in the past.
NATO confirmed the overnight crash and said there "was enemy activity in the area." But it said it was still investigating the cause. The alliance was conducting a recovery operation at the site, it said, without releasing details or a casualty figure.
"We are aware of an incident involving a helicopter in eastern Afghanistan," said U.S. Air Force Capt. Justin Brockhoff, a NATO spokesman. "We are in the process of accessing the facts." The helicopter was a twin-rotor Chinook, which are used for transport, said an official at NATO headquarters in Brussels, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.
The helicopter crashed in the Sayd Abad district of Wardak province, said a provincial government spokesman, Shahidullah Shahid. The volatile region borders the province of Kabul where the Afghan capital is located and is known for its strong Taliban presence.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement that NATO had attacked a house in Sayd Abad where insurgents were gathering Friday night, killing eight fighters. The Taliban then downed the helicopter. he said.
In June 2005, 16 American troops were killed when a U.S. helicopter crashed in eastern Kunar province after apparently being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Aircraft crashes are relatively frequent in Afghanistan, where insecurity and difficult terrain make air travel essential for coalition forces transporting troops and equipment.
There have been at least 17 coalition and Afghan aircraft crashes in Afghanistan this year. Most of the crashes are attributed to pilot errors, weather conditions or mechanical failures. However, the coalition has confirmed that at least one CH-47F Chinook helicopter was hit by a rocket propelled grenade on July 25, injuring two crew members.
Meanwhile, NATO troops attacked a house and inadvertently killed eight members of a family, including women and children, in the southern Helmand province, an Afghan government official said Saturday.
NATO said Taliban fighters fired rocket propelled grenades and small arms at coalition troops during a patrol Friday in the Nad Ali district. The troops fired back, and as the fight escalated an aistrike was called in against the Taliban position, said Brockhoff, the NATO spokesman. He said NATO sent a delegation to meet with local leaders and investigate the incident.
Nad Ali district police chief Shadi Khan said civilians died in the bombardment but that it was unknown how many insurgents were killed.
Helmand, a Taliban stronghold, is the deadliest province in Afghanistan for international troops.
NATO has come under harsh criticism in the past for accidentally killing civilians during operations against suspected insurgents. However, civilian death tallies by the United Nations show the insurgency is responsible for most war casualties involving non-combatants.
Also in the south, NATO said two coalition service member were killed, one on Friday and another on Saturday. The international alliance did not release further details.
The deaths bring to 334 the number of coalition troops killed this year in Afghanistan, and 11 this month.
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- R A 28 minutes ago Report Abuse
Enough is Enough! STOP this fraudulent "War on Terror". Let's worry about economy and putting 15 million Americans back to work.
2 Replies - Eighty Duece 41 minutes ago Report Abuse
Largest single American death toll in one day and we hear about it first from the Afghan President? Why not hear about it from the US President? Oh I forgot he's fund raising and busy placing blame for the S&P Credit downgrading..........
1 Reply -
- PBZ 51 minutes ago Report Abuse
How tragic. Not one American life is worth the ungrateful trash in that country with its horrible ignorant culture. We should pull out now and turn it into a nuclear parking lot. Sad.
4 Replies - Ex-Pat Overseas 37 minutes ago Report Abuse
Obushma, Get the Gd US Troops the Hell outta Afghanistan, ASAP, "especially"if you still think you might have a chance of winning in 2012.
2 Replies - James 23 minutes ago Report Abuse
We should have learned with the Russian's experience. I don't believe you can help these people.
Reply - Rand 32 minutes ago Report Abuse
send our senators and congressman and all their staffs over there and then maybe we can get some people with brains in washington
Reply - 88gtlover 32 minutes ago Report Abuse
I recently asked someone in the military why the U.S. is in Afghanistan. The reply was "trying to make friends with them!!" How dumb can Washington be?
1 Reply - Carol 29 minutes ago Report Abuse
Get our troops out of there and stop giving them money! If there is another attack on America, bring the Enola Gay out of retirement!
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- Ebonics and Spanish SUUCK 42 minutes ago Report Abuse
We shouldn't even be there. Returning troops admit that they're being ordered to guard poppy fields on behalf of the cia. Returning troops admit that Afghanistan is utterly crawling with cia and has become the cia's poppy field. It is well known that the cia has run cocaine for decades (the... More
3 Replies - Chris 26 minutes ago Report Abuse
So sad that people would use the deaths of 38 brave people as fodder to spread their idealogical or dogmatic propaganda... You people really need to understand, to the world around you, your close-mindedness and lack of compassion says more about you then it will ever say about the people you have... More
3 Replies - America_Awakening 29 minutes ago Report Abuse
Obamanam. He owns the war and the economic,
2 Replies
Even Vietnam wasn't run this bad, and I was there - Aaron 14 minutes ago Report Abuse
"War only happens when the moneyed classes believe they will profit from it." - George Orwell
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