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| Afghanistan |
| US in intense fighting near Gardez |
| 2002-03-05 |
U.S. and Afghan forces met far stiffer resistance than expected in the mission to wipe out Taliban and al-Qaida troops holed up the mountains and caves in the Gardez region about 75 miles south of Kabul, commanders and soldiers said. "I don't think we knew what we were getting into this time, but I think were beginning to adjust," said Sgt. Maj. Mark Nielsen, 48, from Indianapolis. At least eight Americans have died in the fighting since Saturday and about 40 have been wounded. Six others died after they were being put down for battle by CH-47 Chinook helicopters. The operation, code-named Anaconda, had originally called for a small detachment of U.S. Special Forces to work with Gen. Zia Lodin, a local Afghan commander, to enter Sirkankel to flush out suspected al-Qaida and foreign Taliban forces. Sirkankel is about 25 miles south of Gardez. But many U.S. and Afghan troops were pinned down for hours by stiff resistance from the Taliban and al-Qaida. Early on the operation ran into problems when Zia was unable to enter Sirkankel on Saturday when his force of up to 450 men were caught in a mortar barrage killing two of his men, wounding 24. One U.S. special operations soldier was also killed in the operation and two more were wounded. Elements of the 10th Mountain Division were pinned down Saturday after taking fire from the town of Marzak. Lt. Col. Frank LaCamera and a force of about 40 soldiers were caught in a 12 hour battle. Mortar rounds and rocket-propelled grenades landed as close as 15 yards to their position and 13 American soldiers were wounded. All the U.S. Apache helicopters flying air support during the first day of the battle were damaged. Several took direct hits from RPGs, but all of them were able to returned to base. Also on Saturday, Col. Frank Wiercinski, a brigade commander with the 101st Airborne, landed on a ridge to the south of Sirkankel to monitor the progress of the operation. Soon after landing, Wiercinski's detachment of about 11 men were attacked and pinned down. "We survived three mortar barrages during the day and at one point we had between 9-10 al-Qaida coming to do us," he said. "But instead, we did them." Nielsen's detachment took fire for several minutes after the helicopters dropped them off. Soldiers began taking fire from an al-Qaida military compound about 200 yards from where they had landed. The troops eventually entered the compound, about a half mile from Sirkankel, and found several 57 mm recoilless rifles, an 82 mm mortar and documents. "It was unbelievable, in the mud hut where these guys slept, the beds were still warm and tea was still brewing," he said. "We also found lots of AK-47 ammunition and medicine along with night vision devices and radios. We destroyed most of what we found." The seized documents that were taken included an electronics book, a state identification card from Saudi Arabia, address book, a Koran and various business cards and receipts. One of those receipts was from a hotel in Moshhad, Iran, near the Afghan border. "The enemy decided to stay and the call has gone out for Jihad (holy war) and Taliban and al-Qaida were detected entering the area from southern Afghanistan from the Khost area and from trails originating in Pakistan. We found them coming in small groups, totaling as many as 700 to 800 men." This is the first conventional battle the US forces have fought in Afghanistan. They appear to be acquitting themselves well, even though it's not a happy experience. FoxNews says that the US allowed the Bad Guys to concentrate their forces so as to get them all in one place so they could whack them hard, which makes sense but also carries its own dangers. Afgha.com carries a Seattle Times report saying the operation was botched, but the examples they cite are fairly minor tactical mistakes. Any time you ask someone who's been wounded, you're likely to be informed that somebody screwed up. Asia Times, also carried on Afgha.com, adds the significant information that the opposition is not only al-Qaeda and Taliban, but also local Hizb-i-Islami - Hekmatyar's gunnies or possibly those of Yunis Khalis - along with smaller groups (which I'd guess would include a plausibly deniable involvement by Rasool Sayyaf's men). The lot is commanded by Mullah Saifur Rehman Mansoor of the Taliban, which gives a picture of what the anti-Karzai opposition is. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |