BREAKING NEWS 17 US Soldiers killed in Helicopter crash

[wxcrazytwo]

THIS IS HUGE....


KABUL, Afghanistan - The U.S. military now believes that all 17 service members aboard the helicopter that crashed in Afghanistan on Tuesday were killed, a senior Pentagon official told reporters Wednesday.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity after the military earlier said the U.S. Chinook helicopter was likely shot down by hostile fire. Other reports indicated that the Taliban had attacked the aircraft.

The helicopter took indirect or direct fire from the ground, U.S. military spokesman Col. James Yonts told a news conference. “Whether or not that caused it to crash, we do not know yet,” he said.

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Pentagon sources told NBC News that aircraft using infrared surveillance had detected movement just after the crash but that due to darkness couldn't tell if those were survivors or the enemy.

The 17 service members included eight Navy SEALs, the sources added.

Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told senators Wednesday that the “tragedy ... appears to be a shootdown of one of our special operations helicopters.”

“We think it was an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade), but are not 100 percent” sure, Pace told a Senate committee during a hearing on his nomination to be chairman of the joint chiefs.

The troops were on a mission against al-Qaida fighters when the helicopter went down in a mountainous region near Asadabad and close to the border with Pakistan.

“Initial reports indicate the crash may have been caused by hostile fire,” a U.S. military statement said.

Site secured
Coalition and Afghan troops “quickly moved into position around the crash to block any enemy movement toward or away from the site” and coalition support aircraft were overhead, the statement said.

The helicopter was carrying forces into the area as part of Operation Red Wing against al-Qaida militants, the military said.

“Coalition troops on the ground in this area came in contact with enemy forces and requested additional forces to be inserted into this operation,” Yonts said. “That is why there was an aircraft, that is how it arrived on the battlefield.”

The U.S. military knew from its contacts with local leaders and residents that “terrorist organizations” were operating in the area of the crash, Yonts said.

“That did not come as a surprise to us, this area has been known to harbor those terrorist organizations or personnel,” he said.

Taliban claim
Provincial Gov. Asadullah Wafa told The Associated Press the Taliban downed the aircraft with a rocket. He gave no other details.


Purported Taliban spokesman Mullah Latif Hakimi telephoned the AP before news of the crash was released and said the rebels shot the helicopter down.

He said the rebels filmed the attack and would release the video to the media. He also claimed that rebels killed seven U.S. soldiers in an attack in the same area, although U.S. spokeswomen Lt. Cindy Moore said no such attack had been made on an American convoy.

Hakimi often calls news organizations to claim responsibility for attacks on behalf of the Taliban. His information has sometimes proven untrue or exaggerated, and his exact tie to the group’s leadership is unclear.

'Further our resolve'
“This is a tragic event for all of us, and our hearts and prayers go out to the families, loved ones and men still fighting in the area,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Greg Champion, deputy commanding general of Combined Joint Task Force-76. “This incident will only further our resolve to defeat the enemies of peace.”

The crash was the second of a Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan this year. On April 6, 15 U.S. service members and three American civilians were killed when their chopper went down in a sandstorm while returning to the main U.S. base at Bagram.

The U.S. military has launched operations in several areas along the border with Pakistan. Those offensives target remnants of al-Qaida and the hard-line Taliban movement, as well as foreign fighters using high mountain passes to cross the largely uncontrolled border from Pakistan.

Tuesday’s crash came after three months of unprecedented fighting that has killed about 465 suspected insurgents, 29 U.S. troops, 43 Afghan police and soldiers, and 125 civilians.

The violence has left much of Afghanistan off-limits to aid workers and has heightened concerns that the war here is escalating into a conflict on the scale of that in Iraq.

Afghan and U.S. officials have predicted the situation will deteriorate in the lead-up to legislative elections in September — the next key step toward democracy after a quarter-century of war.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8391112/

[Brent]

Not surprising... once I heard of the crash and found out it would be 24 hours later before rescuers got there, I knew no one would survive.

[wxcrazytwo]

Not surprising... once I heard of the crash and found out it would be 24 hours later before rescuers got there, I knew no one would survive.

Yeah, it is a freaking shame...

[Brent]

Not surprising... once I heard of the crash and found out it would be 24 hours later before rescuers got there, I knew no one would survive.

Yeah, it is a freaking shame...

Mountainous terrain... it's VERY VERY hard to get in there. It's not like Iraq where there's no mountains.

[Swimdude]

Yeesh that's sad... All this fighting! Gets old to hear about on the news after a while, you know?

[kmanWX]

Yeesh that's sad... All this fighting! Gets old to hear about on the news after a while, you know?

yeah...

[southerngale]

wxcrazy...you need to edit the title and include what the breaking news is about.

Thanks!

[Brent]

This is sounding really bad... an unmanned drone that was circling the site has crashed and the original commandos who called for help(the Chinook that crashed included) have not been heard from in more than 24 hours. The elevation is around 10,000 feet and the only way to access the site is by foot. The Taliban is claiming it killed the survivors of the crash afterwards.

Also... 8 Navy SEALS were aboard the helicopter.

[nystate]

This is sounding really bad... an unmanned drone that was circling the site has crashed and the original commandos who called for help(the Chinook that crashed included) have not been heard from in more than 24 hours. The elevation is around 10,000 feet and the only way to access the site is by foot. The Taliban is claiming it killed the survivors of the crash afterwards.

Also... 8 Navy SEALS were aboard the helicopter.

I heard about the missing Commandos on NBC nightly news...Any sources available online (I haven't been able to find any)?

[Brent]

This is sounding really bad... an unmanned drone that was circling the site has crashed and the original commandos who called for help(the Chinook that crashed included) have not been heard from in more than 24 hours. The elevation is around 10,000 feet and the only way to access the site is by foot. The Taliban is claiming it killed the survivors of the crash afterwards.

Also... 8 Navy SEALS were aboard the helicopter.

I heard about the missing Commandos on NBC nightly news...Any sources available online (I haven't been able to find any)?

It was over on Free Republic earlier too(it also was mentioned on the CBS Evening News).

[wxcrazytwo]

wxcrazy...you need to edit the title and include what the breaking news is about.

Thanks!

I think I did southern. I can only fit so much in that space...

[Brent]

wxcrazy...you need to edit the title and include what the breaking news is about.

Thanks!

I think I did southern. I can only fit so much in that space...

When the post was 1st here it was just ***BREAKING NEWS*** Nothing else.

[wxcrazytwo]

wxcrazy...you need to edit the title and include what the breaking news is about.

Thanks!

I think I did southern. I can only fit so much in that space...

When the post was 1st here it was just ***BREAKING NEWS*** Nothing else.

Oh. Sorry..