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| Afghanistan |
| 82nd Airborne shoots it out with Zadran force... |
| 2002-09-11 |
| U.S. forces at this forward-reaching base camp [near Khost] rose at first light Monday to the sound of bullets going over their tents. "Damn! I ain't even brushed my teeth yet..." A company of soldiers from Fort Bragg's 82nd Airborne Division pulled on their boots and leapt into action. For the next 22 minutes, they exchanged small arms fire with local fighters in a battle that shows the complexity of warfare in eastern Afghanistan. "What's complex about it? They shoot at us, they miss. We shoot at them, we don't. Simple." The early morning battle was an afterthought to a night of heavy street fighting between forces loyal to the local warlord, Pacha Khan, and troops loyal to the chief of police in this region, Mustafah. On Sunday night, battles took place throughout the city. Much of the town was in flames after small-arms fighting and repeated rocket attacks. Zadran's doing it for The People™. That's why he rockets them. The fighting carried on into the early morning. Just after sunrise, fighters loyal to Khan crashed through an Afghan-controlled checkpoint where forces loyal to Mustafah were located. The checkpoint is positioned on the edge of the American base here, which is called Chapman air base. Mustafah's fighters drove Khan's fighters closer to the U.S. perimeter. Both Khan's men and Mustafah's men are loyal to the Afghan Military Force, and in theory allied with the Americans here. There's a theory the earth is flat, too. Herded 'em right toward the Merkins, did he? Mustapha's no dummy... But they are at odds with one another internally over control of the region. So while at times they back American efforts to rid the country of al-Qaida and Taliban, they fight each other for power. American forces try their best to stay out of the fighting for fear that taking sides might create complex political problems that could further destabilize an already volatile area. It could get more unstable than it is? Dayum! But they were forced to get involved Monday morning when the fighting was pushed within 100 meters of their perimeter. Bullets whizzed by as soldiers in the 82nd Airborne Division ran to fortify a 300-meter perimeter berm. Yup. That always gets the old attention... Soldiers carrying M-4 rifles and high-caliber machine guns fired on approaching Afghan troops, some of whom had already fired at the U.S. base. "Bad move, guys!" "Oh, yeah? Why's that?" U.S. troops returned fire. In all, four Afghan fighters were killed and seven were wounded. No U.S. forces were killed or injured. "That's why." In all, about 150 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne participated in the firefight. "I woke up hearing gunshots. And the adrenaline was flowing and you just throw on your gear as fast as you can," said Spc. Alexander Perez, a 23-year-old Maryland native. "It was real scary. I won't lie. But we are infantry and we're going to get shot at." If you're not scared, you're stoopid... Sgt. Lewis Cannistraro, a 23-year-old, Massachusetts native, said the soldiers returned fire only after being fired upon. "A couple of rounds were hitting in front of us," he said. "At first you're like, 'Well, these people are shooting at me.'" Comes as a suprise, doesn't it? There you are, watching the dirt kick up or the bark fly, and you're thinking something silly, like, "What the hell do they have against me?" Then all that training you've had, over and over and over again, kicks in... But he said the soldiers of the 82nd didn't have much time to think about the situation, they simply had to react. By the time they did have a chance to reflect, the shooting had subsided, he said. Four waxed, seven ventilated. Gosh, I like those guys... Thanks to Steve for the story. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #1 Funny thing about all that training (Hey! Saddam, ya listenin'?) When the poo hits the fan blades that training makes those actions of shooting back and snuffin' the bad guys a reflex (and a damn fine one to have in a war zone, if you ask me) |
| Posted by: Brian M. 2002-09-11 19:22:30 |