After declining to comment over the weekend about reports of civilian deaths in Friday's air strike in Kunar province, the U.S. military said on Monday it had killed an "unknown" number of militants and civilians and regretted the loss of innocent life.[...]
"However, when enemy forces move their families into the locations where they conduct terrorist operations, they put these innocent civilians at risk."
[...]
The governor of Kunar, Assadullah Wafa, told Reuters an investigation by Afghan security forces showed 17 civilians had been killed during the air raid on a village during a search for a small group of U.S. soldiers missing since last Tuesday.
He also said Afghan forces received information on Sunday night that a wounded American was being treated by villagers in a remote mountainous part of the province.[...]
Wafa said the soldier was in the same area as that where a U.S. helicopter sent to rescue the troops was shot down by militants last Tuesday, killing all 16 U.S. Special Forces soldiers aboard.
U.S. military spokesmen in Kabul have declined to confirm reports quoting unidentified Pentagon officials as saying one missing Special Forces soldier was rescued on Saturday after evading militants for five days.[...]
A second American soldier missing in Afghanistan for the past week has been located [...]
[...]
Wafa said he had no information about two other soldiers believed to be missing.
[...]
A senior Afghan police officer said U.S. aircraft blasted militant positions in Kunar again on Sunday, but a U.S. spokesman said he had no information about fresh strikes he could report.
Lieutenant-Colonel Jerry O'Hara said "a search and recovery" operation also aimed at rooting out militants was continuing in Kunar on Monday, but declined to provide details.[...]
A Taliban spokesman said last week video of a captured soldier would be provided to news organizations and photographs posted on the Taliban Web site -- www.alemarah.com -- but neither appears to have happened. The site appeared blocked on Monday.
Monday, July 04, 2005
"Regrets", missing soldiers and continued bombardment
Downed helicopter update:
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