Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Philadelphia Inquirer
December 14, 2006
By Jason Straziuso, Associated Press
BAGRAM, Afghanistan - Almost 2,100 militants have been killed in Afghanistan since Sept. 1 in operations involving U.S. special forces, an Army spokesman said.
That means more than half of the country's insurgency-related deaths this year have come in the last three months.
About 900 of the 2,077 deaths came during Operation Medusa, a major offensive in September in the southern province of Kandahar. Special forces worked alongside conventional forces from Canada during the fight.
The two primary missions for U.S. special forces in Afghanistan are counterterrorism operations and NATO troop support, Master Sgt. Clifford Richardson said this week at Bagram, the main U.S. base in Afghanistan.
Nailing top fugitives such as al-Qaeda's Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar is part of the mission of Operation Enduring Freedom, but it is not the top priority of the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force, which commands special forces in Afghanistan, Richardson said.
More than 500 U.S. special forces soldiers operate throughout Afghanistan and outside the command of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, unlike conventional U.S. troops operating in the east.
U.S. special forces worked in parallel with conventional troops from Canada during Medusa. "We were assisting the Canadians by providing some reconnaissance and some screening, and it rolled into where they could no longer push forward," Richardson said. "We rolled into a different tactical maneuver set and took over as the main element."
The number of enemy fighters killed in action since Sept. 1 - when the current U.S. special forces group arrived for an eight-month rotation - was confirmed through either physical evidence, such as body counts, or through multiple sources, Richardson said.
About 4,000 people have died in violence in Afghanistan this year, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from NATO, U.S. and Afghan officials. Those figures often come from remote battle sites and are impossible to confirm.
Taliban insurgents have stepped up attacks this year, particularly in the south and east, and have launched a record number of suicide and roadside bombs this year.
Richardson said special forces soldiers no longer operated unilaterally, but "by, with and through" Afghan forces.
December 14, 2006
By Jason Straziuso, Associated Press
BAGRAM, Afghanistan - Almost 2,100 militants have been killed in Afghanistan since Sept. 1 in operations involving U.S. special forces, an Army spokesman said.
That means more than half of the country's insurgency-related deaths this year have come in the last three months.
About 900 of the 2,077 deaths came during Operation Medusa, a major offensive in September in the southern province of Kandahar. Special forces worked alongside conventional forces from Canada during the fight.
The two primary missions for U.S. special forces in Afghanistan are counterterrorism operations and NATO troop support, Master Sgt. Clifford Richardson said this week at Bagram, the main U.S. base in Afghanistan.
Nailing top fugitives such as al-Qaeda's Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar is part of the mission of Operation Enduring Freedom, but it is not the top priority of the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force, which commands special forces in Afghanistan, Richardson said.
More than 500 U.S. special forces soldiers operate throughout Afghanistan and outside the command of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, unlike conventional U.S. troops operating in the east.
U.S. special forces worked in parallel with conventional troops from Canada during Medusa. "We were assisting the Canadians by providing some reconnaissance and some screening, and it rolled into where they could no longer push forward," Richardson said. "We rolled into a different tactical maneuver set and took over as the main element."
The number of enemy fighters killed in action since Sept. 1 - when the current U.S. special forces group arrived for an eight-month rotation - was confirmed through either physical evidence, such as body counts, or through multiple sources, Richardson said.
About 4,000 people have died in violence in Afghanistan this year, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from NATO, U.S. and Afghan officials. Those figures often come from remote battle sites and are impossible to confirm.
Taliban insurgents have stepped up attacks this year, particularly in the south and east, and have launched a record number of suicide and roadside bombs this year.
Richardson said special forces soldiers no longer operated unilaterally, but "by, with and through" Afghan forces.