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Two CIA operatives killed in Afghanistan
Two US CIA operatives have been killed in an ambush while tracking terrorists in Afghanistan. The ambush on Saturday happened on the same day and in the same region as a six-hour gun battle in which coalition aircraft and Afghan militia killed 18 rebel fighters. Six Afghan militia soldiers were wounded in the fighting, but there were no coalition casualties, the military said. Itâs unclear whether the two incidents are linked, and the military has not explained why its account of the fighting was delayed by three days.In Washington, the CIA identified the two men as William Carlson, 43, of North Carolina, and Christopher Mueller, 32, of San Diego, California. Both were veterans of military special operations forces, the CIA said. In a statement, the CIA said they were tracking terrorists operating in the region of Shkin, a village in eastern Afghanistan, when they were killed. It did not provide details of the ambush or the two operativesâ mission. They were in the remote mountainous region on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden is thought to be hiding. It also is a stronghold for al-Qaida, Taliban and other anti-coalition fighters. Carlson and Mueller are the third and fourth CIA operatives that the agency has acknowledged have been killed in Afghanistan in the line of duty since the September 11 attacks. Posted by: Bulldog 2003-10-29 |
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