A R C H I V E S
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| US Troops Die In Afghan Blast |
|---|
| struggling |
| 04/15/02 at 17:51:08 |
| [slm] I really wonder sometimes why is it that American Marines in Afghanistan get killed by accidents mostly rather than any hostile fire This does not seem to be the case with European soldiers there. It looks to me that US Marines are not very well-trained. I don't know may be I am wrong in this observation. At least four American soldiers have been killed while blowing up unexploded rockets near the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. United States Defense Department officials said several others were injured or missing. "It doesn't appear to be hostile fire - it is related to ordinance," said spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Lapan. The wounded are being treated at a hospital in a US airbase near Kandahar, which was a Taleban stronghold before it fell at the height of the US-led war in Afghanistan late last year. A team of US soldiers reportedly numbering between five and 10 had been destroying old 107 mm missiles in the Mian Khoh area, about 4 km northeast of Kandahar, when the blast occurred. A spokesman for Kandahar's provincial government, Khalid Pashtoon, told Reuters news agency that they had been using gunpowder to set off the ordnance. "After placing the gunpowder on the ammunition for blowing it, an explosion took place and four Americans got killed," he said, adding that a fifth American was "badly wounded". Monday's blast comes after a series of unexplained explosions at an airfield used by forces of the US-led coalition at Khost, on the Pakistani border. Coalition forces have stepped up operations against remaining fighters from the Taleban and Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network in recent days. But Afghanistan began an important new stage in its progress towards political stability on Monday when thousands of people assembled in the north to start selecting candidates for a grand national assembly, the Loya Jirga. Landmine problem The munitions which exploded on Monday appear to have been left over from Afghanistan's years of civil war and war against the USSR. The country is littered with landmines and troops have been finding and blowing up weapons caches left in caves. In March, exploding ordinance killed five peacekeepers, three Danes and two Germans, in Kabul. About 7,000 US troops are deployed in Afghanistan, pursuing the war on terror launched after the 11 September suicide attacks on America. Before Monday's incident, 32 US troops had died in and around Afghanistan. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1930000/1930954.stm |
| Re: US Troops Die In Afghan Blast |
|---|
| explorer |
| 04/15/02 at 18:10:11 |
| [slm] I am willing to bet these soldiers were killed in actual combat against Al Qaeda/Taliban fighters and are just being passed off as killed in accidents. As they were killed by an 'explosion' it was most likely a mortar or rocket attack and since the wounds would be burnt and open-flesh type, they can cover it up by a scenario that would yield the same wound, hence this 'accidental explosion'. If it were bullet wounds then they would have no choice but to admit as killed in actual combat. The US military is quite hesitant to admit to combat losses by the enemy denying them credit wherever possible. |
| Re: US Troops Die In Afghan Blast |
|---|
| mujaahid |
| 04/16/02 at 04:41:41 |
| <I am willing to bet these soldiers were killed in actual combat against Al Qaeda/Taliban fighters and are just being passed off as killed in accidents> Explorer i dont agree. I DO believe they were killed by hostile fire, but i dont think it was Taliban. I think it may well be others who are siding with the Taleban. A lot of the recent attackers were not known to the taliban. It seems to me that some of the anti-Taliban groups are now siding with the taliban. Great news!! |
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board |